Fighting for our Freedom
by FriedaIsBestGirl
Summary: When a young noble from the Royal Capital witnesses the Fall of Shiganshina and then finds out about the death of his 2 best friends, he promises that he will use the powers obtained from his mothers side of the family to free the people of the Walls.
1. The Fall of Shiganshina : Part One

At the Inner Gate of Wall Maria leading to the Shiganshina District where the poorest people lived within the walls, aside from the Underground District, a group of 5 horses were trotting along the stone paved streets leading further into the outermost district on the south side of the walls.

Four of the horses in question formed a diamond shaped pattern around the lone horse in the centre on which a boy who had turned 14 only 2 days prior rode. The 5 horses turned some eyes from the local residents, mainly because they were not used to seeing the Interior Military Police this far outside of Wall Sina. The fact that Interior MP's were in Shiganshina was already gathering attention and some people had begun speculating on why they were there.

The truth was that even the MP's did not know the purpose of their visit, only that they had been told that it was of paramount importance that they make the trip before it was too late.

The boy in the centre however was off in his own little daydream while looking at the sky wondering if humanity would ever be free from the Titans century long reign of terror.

" _She always said that she would be the one to free humanity from its prison of the walls, but that all changed after-"_

"Do you mind telling us where exactly we're going Sir?" asked the MP to the boys right getting a bit frustrated at the lack of knowledge of the journey they had taken.

"You'll see when we get there" replied the boy with a huff, "Oh and don't call me "Sir" when my parents aren't around Jerome, you know I don't like it"

"Right, sorry Nick" Jerome replied while looking down at the ground as if he had taken a sudden interest in the stone paths.

"Don't apologise Jerome" replied Nick to the downtrodden MP, "Anyways we're almost there I think, Do you have the money Ella?"

"Yes, but I'm still confused as to why you had us bust numerous MP's who were illegally selling Government property just for the money, or do you get some satisfaction seeing MP's actually doing their job" she replied with a smirk on her face.

"Although it is nice seeing MP's actually work for their pay, I wanted the money so that I could give it away"

"WHAAAT???" The four MP's shrieked, flabbergasted that all their effort in subduing the corrupt MP's was all for naught.

"Aha we're here" exclaimed Nick rather excitedly.

"Uhh, where are we exactly" asked Olivia , confused as to why they had stopped outside a rather run down building that looked as if it would collapse at any given second.

Nick however ignored her question and got off his horse and signalled the others to do so, he strode up to the door and knocked firmly on the dark brown wooden door 3 times.

About 10 seconds later a women who looked to be in her late 40's or early 50's answered the door, after spotting the four MP's a look if panic engulfed her face as she spoke, "What business do the MP's have with me"

"Actually" Nick interrupted the women "It was me who wanted to come here because i have something to give you".

The women looked surprised before asking him to continue

"As i was saying, the reason I came here was to donate money to your Orphanage"

The woman was well and truly shocked now as this 5 foot 3 tall kid from the interior had just expressed a desire to donate his money to her failing orphanage.

At this revelation the women began to break down and cry in front of the 5 Sina residents, at the sight if this Nick stepped forward and brought the crying women into a hug as she whispered "Thank you" into his ear over and over again.

"Would you like to meet the children" she blurts out after she stopped crying at the act of kindness, "Yes I would like that very much Mrs?" "Fischer" the now named woman replied.

"All right then Mrs Fischer lets meet the children" he then turns around "You four stay out here and hand me the money Ella" He replies with a quick thanks after the redhead hands him the pouch of money which would save the Orphanage.

As he stepped inside he quickly noticed the children that were playing in the main room, there were 8 girls and 4 boys from ages 5 to 10 separated into groups until Mrs Fischer got their attention.

"Attention children, we have a special visitor today who has been kind enough to donate money so that the Orphanage won't have to close down anymore" to which the room erupted into cheers and the children rushed over to thank the mystery man for saving their home.

"It was no problem" he modestly replied to the praise he was getting from the children as he knelt on one knee so he could engage in conversation without having to look down at the children.

"What's your name" asked a small blonde haired girl, "My name is Nicholas Meier, but you guys can call me Nick, okay?" "Okay" came the chorus of replies from the ecstatic children.

(Outside)

"He's far too nice, one day somebody will take advantage of him and he will look like a right idiot"

"He's a lot smarter than you Olivia, now thats for certain"

"You shut your damn mouth Alex" Olivia retorted "At least the rest of us are taller than him"

Alex narrowed his eyes at Olivia "At least i didn't join the military because i had daddy issues"

"At least I have a dad, asshole" muttered Olivia

"You wanna come over here and say that to my face you bitch" Alex shot back.

"Would you two idiots shut up" Ella interjected "You're attracting unwanted attention" as she said this she motioned towards the crowd that were gathering around them wondering what the shouting was about.

As the crowd gathered the bells signalling the Survey Corps' return rang, this caused the crowd to shift their focus to the battered soldiers who looked like they had just gone to hell and back.

As the scouts moved their way through the district towards the inner gate the MP's standing to the side caught the attention of one of the squad leaders at the front.

He goes over to them and asks "What business does the interior military police have this far south of Wall Sina?".

"We don't have any" Ella responds with.

"Then what are you doing here" the scout counters with.

"We're here because our... boss you could say wanted to give money to save this Orphanage"

The man goes wide eyed for a split second before returning to his calm expression and says "That's very noble of them, may I meet your boss if thats alright with him"

"Sure let me get him" responds Ella as she knocks on the door 3 times and says "Nick get out here, someone wants to meet you"

Footsteps can be heard coming towards the door as it slowly opens from the inside revealing the "boss" that they had been told of. What the scout didn't expect was a 14 year old boy about 5 foot 3 with messy light brown hair and dark green eyes, wearing a white shirt with no collar, no cuffs and short sleeves, black trousers and brown shoes. "You wanted to speak with me?" The boy asks.

"Yes, I was curious as to why there were Interior MP's this far south, and they told me that their "boss" wanted to save this Orphanage"

"I bet you didn't expect a teenager to walk out the door did you?"

The scout chuckles "I can say that i did not expect someone like you to be their boss"

"Well I'm not technically their boss, my parents are, but they do what I say so I can't complain" he explains and continues with "Whats your name?"

"Erwin Smith" he replies

Nick offers his hand and Erwin takes his hand in a firm grip "Nicholas Meier, and before you ask, yes I am from the noble family in the Capital" he pauses as he studies Erwins expression of initial shock as to learning his identity.

"It was nice meeting you Mr Smith, I hope one day you and the rest of the scouts can free us from this prison"

"Especially because she cant, not anymore" he thinks.

"I hope so too Mr Meier, I hope so too" Erwin replies with a dark look on his face as he grabs his horses reigns to go rejoin whats left of the scouts after their most recent mission outside the Walls.

After he leaves Nick tells the 4 people next to him that he wants to explore the District for a while. As they begin walking down the main street further into the city he overhears a man talking to his friend about an "annoying brat" who hit him with a stick because he said that the Survey Corps were a wast of taxes before the kid was dragged off by girl about the same age as him. He chuckles after hearing this rather upset that he had missed this altercation between the so called "brat" and the old man.

(45 minutes later)

They had just passed the river where he had noticed 3 kids about his age reading a book, and while the two boys seemed heavily invested in it the girl did not, as if she didn't care about the book at all, although he didn't get a good look at their faces he saw the girl wearing a red scarf even though it was quite warm outside.

They had just begun walking back up one of the narrow streets back towards the inner gate when there was a flash behind them which illuminated their shadows onto the paved street for a split second.

When they turned around there was a pillar of smoke rising from behind the outer gate.

"Please don't tell me that's what I think it is", he spoke quietly so none of the others could hear him.

Just at that moment a hand gripped onto the top of the wall and a massive skinless head peered over the wall looking at the inhabitants with his eyes focused on the main courtyard of the city.

And at then all Nick could think was " _They've come for her_ "


	2. The Fall of Shiganshina : Part Two

"Holy Shit"

"That wall is 50 metres high"

"Is that what a titan looks like?"

As the newly formed colossal titan stared down the townspeople of Shiganshina the people were completely frozen in terror as all they could do was stare back at the monster looking down at them from atop the wall.

Down in one of the side streets, the 4 of the Sina residents were in shock as to how a titan could be that tall, the one who wasn't surprised at the height of the titan was the youngest of them all, because he knew exactly what it was about what it was most likely about to do.

"We need to leave" Nick ordered to the squad who just kept staring at the titan.

"Are you idiots even listening?" Nick exclaimed, "We need to leave while we still can"

Suddenly there was a large explosion as the Colossal Titan pulled his leg back and slammed it at full force into the outer gate of the district.

The debris from the gate scattered around the city in all directions like the spread of buckshot from the muskets that the MP's use on a daily basis.

Nick looked behind him after he had just turned around to see a large chunk of debris heading straight towards him at an extremely fast pace and he thought " _Is this how it ends?. All these years worth of memories gone in the blink of an eye?. If only I had got to see her smile one last time before I die, or her eyes, her pretty blue eyes, they used to sparkle, like she was an angel that was walking among us, or her hair, her beautiful long black hair, it looked so soft that i could run my hands through it and never get tired of the feeling, Wait, what am i thinking?. Does this mean that, that I'm in love with her?, well i guess it doesn't matter now."_

He was pulled from his thoughts as he was roughly shoved out of the way of the incoming rock about to smear him against the ground, however he hit his head on the side of the building next to him and he stumbled as he tried to get back to his feet.

After about 20 seconds of struggling he got up to his feet only to feel blood coming from the side of his head, running down his right cheek, down his chin and dripping onto his white shirt.

" _Well that stain isn't coming out_ " he bitterly thought.

As he turned around to see who had saved him he could only gasp at what he saw, in the street were the mangled bodies of two of the MP's assigned to guard him, he couldn't tell who they were as they were just pieces by now, blood smeared on the road and walls of nearby buildings, pieces of rock smothered in the blood of innocents, limbs torn from their bodies lying in the middle of the street.

As he turned back he saw part of a building collapsed into the street and as he looked down he saw a familiar head of red hair, "Ella" he called out as he rushed over to the trapped girl. "Ella can you hear me".

All he got was a groan in response to signal she was still alive under the building, he quickly began to remove the small pieces of rubble in an attempt to free one of his guardians.

"Leave me Nick" she groaned out, "Save yourself", it came out in a whisper but he still heard it.

"No" he responded defiantly, "I am not leaving you to die while I can help you"

"It's no use, this pillar must weigh at least 300lbs" she croaked, desperate for him to save himself while he still could.

He ignored her protests and attempted to lift the wooden pillar, it moved about half an inch before it became to stressful for his arms to hold anymore as he let go.

As he looked up he saw one of them, an eight metre titan with stupidly huge eyes and skinny arms about 150 metres down the street.

"THUNK", He turned and saw Olivia passing overhead towards the advancing titan at full speed while shouting "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE NICK". He had two choices, run and save himself but leave Ella to be eaten, or he could try and free her and run a high risk if getting eaten himself.

He knew what he had to do, he moved forward to the pillar, planted his feet, put his hands under the pillar and began to lift, as he was lifting he felt a surge of power run through his body as he began to lift the pillar more, and more, and more until there was enough room for Ella to crawl out.

"How did you do that?", she asks weakly, "I don't know, I just did" he replies. "Can you walk?" He asks, concerned about her.

She tries to stand but before she crumples to the ground Nick catches her and sees blood staining the left abdomen region of her shirt under her jacket. After seeing this he lifts her up onto his shoulders to carry her to the evacuation boats as the horses had fled by this point.

He looked back for Olivia only to see the eight metre titan with a pair of legs and blade boxes hanging limp from its mouth, the titan bit down, severing the legs from the rest of the body and then turned its attention to a garrison member who tried to slice its nape only to slam straight into its face and fall to the floor.

" _I don't want to see this_ " he thought as he turned around and began running towards the inner gate before it was closed.

(6 minutes later)

He finally reached the evacuation boats as he waited in line with an MP who was bleeding out on his shoulder, when he reached the front the man in front was told that the boat was full and the plank was being lifted but upon seeing the military police unicorn symbol on Ella's jacked he ordered the plank to be lowered so the MP and boy could get on. "Thank you" Ella whispered to the garrison soldier who let them board.

This act caused an uproar among the waiting crowd with many insults being thrown at the duo such as "whore" and "slut".

As Nick slowly set Ella down he lifted her shirt to see the wound and immediately put pressure on it, soaking his hands with her blood in the process.

"Don't you die on me Ella" he spoke in a commanding voice almost as if he was ordering her, "I did not just lift a 300 pound pillar just for you to bleed out to a measly cut".

"I'm sorry Sir, but I don't think I'm going to make it" he voice came out in a whisper as she was losing her strength.

"Don't you dare say that Ella, you ARE going to live through this", he was on the verge of tears now, he had already seen 3 of the 6 people he spoke to die, he didn't want another to leave him.

She weakly put her hand on his cheek and caressed it with her thumb and said "Tell her how you feel about her."

"What?"

"Tell her how you feel about her, what's the worst that could happen"

"But I'm 14 and she's 18, it wouldn't work"

"Maybe not now, but it could if you tell her and she decides to wait for you" her voice was a whisper at this point as she had lost so much blood.

" _But she'll be dead in 10 years_ " he thought, " _But being with her for 1 day would be better than none at all_ "

"All right, I promise I'll tell her when I get back", he had accepted Ella's impending death at this point but wanted to make her happy in her last moments.

"Good, that's good, she'd be extremely stupid to reject you" as she said this her hand fell and her eyes closed as she had stopped breathing. She had a smile on her face, as if she was finally at peace.

He looked up to see most people standing up looking at something, begrudgingly he got up to see what they were looking at, he squeezed through to the front only to see a gaping hole in the inner gate of Wall Maria, with a fifteen metre class titan with what looked like armour on nearly ever inch of his body. While talking to Ella in her final moments he had missed the Armoured Titan ramming through the Inner Gate of Wall Maria.

" _Not another one_ " he thought as the titans now had free reign all the way to Wall Rose where there was already a food shortage.

He made his way back through the crowd to Ella's body where he sat down and wiped his hands on his shirt making the stains even worse.

"I'm sorry for your loss" he heard someone say, he turned round to see the kid with blonde hair and a coconut shaped head that he saw near the river with the two other kids.

"Thank you", Nick replied, the boy held out his hand and Nick took it "Armin Arlert" the boy spoke, "Nicholas Meier" was the reply he received.

"Who was she to you?", Armin asked.

"She was my friend ... and one of my guards"

"You're not from Shiganshina, are you?" Armin deduced from the fact that he had an MP as his guard.

"Far from it I'm afraid, I'm from Mitras, specifically the Meier Noble family."


	3. The Fall of Shiganshina : Aftermath

Nick was seriously beeing creeped out by Armin now, because for the last 30 seconds he had just stared at him as if he had grown another head, or had just told him what the titans really were. _"Thank god he doesn't know that"_ he mused to himself, " _Poor kid would probably faint on the spot."_

"You're really from the capital?" Armin barely managed to stutter out based on the shock value of seeing a noble leave the safety of Wall Sina and come to the district that attracts the most titans.

"Yes I am" he replied, "You sound shocked", he added to confuse Armin even more than he already was.

"W...well it's just that-" Armin began only to be interrupted by Nick, "You know Armin" he began looking him straight in the eyes, "Not everyone that lives in Sina are self-righteous assholes who only care about themselves and their wealth."

"That's not what I was about to say" Armin quickly spluttered out, "I was going to ask why you came here", he quickly added to not arouse suspicion to the boy sitting next to him.

"I came here to give money to save the local Orphanage, but as you can see my efforts were pointless and futile in the end" Nick replied in a softer tone which did not go unnoticed by Armin.

"I don't think your efforts were pointless ir futile"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that while the Orphanage has been lost due to the attack, the children surely would have gotten some joy over the fact that their home would have been saved, so in reality you should be happy that the children got some happiness before it was destroyed"

"I guess you're right, thanks Armin" Nick replied with a smile, "Now if you don't mind I'm going to try and get some sleep before we get to Wall Rose in the morning.

And with that Nick leant back on the hard surface of the wooden boat amd eventually sleep took ove him.

 _It had been four years since the Colossal Titan and the Armoured Titan had breached Wall Maria, and since then there had not been any more sightings of the titans that had caused so much death and destruction and had indirectly caused the death of 250,000 people as they were marched back into Wall Maria in order to "reclaim" the land from the titans. Nick had thought it was bullshit at the time, and he was right as it was basically mass genoide committed by the Royal Government, but ultimately Nick had accepted that their deaths had alliwed the rest of humanity to survive the food shortages in Wall Rose at the time._

 _Four years ago Nick had promised a dying Ella that he would tell the girls he loved how he felt, but he had chickened out when he first saw her when he got back to Mitras, ir was quite stupid how he could look at a titan and not fear it while he pulled Ella from the wreckage of a house, but when it came to telling in his opinion "the prettiest girl in the world" how he truly felt about her, he crumbled, because he feared her rejection and the thought that she wouldn't want to talk to him again, he feared that she would abandon him and he couldn't have that,so he left things as they were._

 _But now four years later he had finally managed to work up the gall to tell her and fulfill the promise he made to Ella, so here he was dismounting his horse at the Reiss estate in Wall Sina so he could tell her and hopefully be with her for the remaining 6 years of her life. As he walked up to the door he was greeted by members of the Military Police who waved him through as he was a frequent visitor to the estate, when he stepped inside he was greeted by Florian Reiss who was 14 years old with long black hair and light blue eyes, she was quite short for her age at about 4 foot 8 while Nick stood at 6 foot 1 at the age of 18 years old._

 _"Hello Nick", exclaimed Florian surprised that he was here at her home._

 _"Hi Florian" Nick replied "Still not growimg are you?" Nick teased._

 _"Shut up Nick" Florian shouted at him as her face flushed red in embarrassment at his teasing comment. "Why are you here anyway" she continued with after the flare in her cheeks died down._

 _"I'm looking for Frieda" he replied casually as to not arouse any suspicion from Florian._

 _"Why?" Florian asked._

 _"I need to talk to her about something important" he replied trying to fool her with his cool demeanour._

 _"I think she's in the garden out back"_

 _"Thank you Florian" he graciously replied to the short girl._

 _As he was walking off Florian spoke one more time, "Oh and by the way Nick,I think she's alone if you want to get it on" she wiggled her eyebrows at that statement._

 _" **FLORIAN**!!!" Nick shrieked "It's not like that" he stuttered out with his face becoming more and more red with every passing second. _

_"Sure it isn't, have fun Nick", and with that Florian skipped down the hallway and around the corner._

 _After Nick managed to get the bright red blush off his face he set off towards the garden, determined to tell Frieda about how he felt and find out how she felt about him, however when he stepped outside into the garden his heart shattered into millions of pieces as he saw the love of his life Frieda Reiss kissing another man, but on closer inspection he recognised the man as Steven Schäfer, also known to Nick as the biggest fucking asshole to ever walk the Earth, this was because Steven thought that because he lived in Mitras that he was better than everbody else, so he used to bully children he deemed as below himself, he even tried to bully Nick when he was 13 and Steven was 15, Nick could deal with the insults hurled towards him and just ignored them, this was until Steven decided to call Nick's mother a "street whore", after he said that Nick snapped and broke Steven's left arm in two places and yanked his right arm out of it's socket as punishment._

 _He was snapped out of this memory by Frieda calling his name and walking up to him and asking him why he was crying, "I'm fine" he replied, not wanting her concern after what he just witnessed._

 _"I'm your best friend Nick" she began "You can tell me anything and I won't judge you" she spoke in a soft, understanding voice._

 _However Nick had enough of his heartbreak and spat back "If you really can't tell what's wrong with me then you don't deserve to know", and with that he stormed off with tears streaming down his face._

 _At this point Florian had seen it all, and went outside to talk to her sister, "Frieda" she spoke, "You do realise that Steven is only with you because you're pretty, right?"_

 _"Yes, I know Florian" Frieda spoke in a sullen tone._

 _"Then why are you still with him"_

 _"Because no one else would want to be with me"_

 _"Did you seriosly just say that?" Florian exclaimed, "Have you seen the way Nick looks at you" she practically shouted at her older sister because of how stupid she was being._

 _"What do you mean Florian" Frieda spoke as a light pink shade dusted over her cheeks._

 _"He fucking loves you Frieda" Florian shouts at her, "How can you not see it" she finishes with._

 _"Florian", is all Frieda says, too shocked by her sisters outburst to say anything._

 _"I'm sorry Frieda, it's just that I could see_

 _you just broke his heart with the amount he was crying just now."_

 _"What should I do?" Frieda asks._

 _"What do you want to do?" Florian retorts with._

 _"I know what i want to do now, Thank you Florian for helping me realise my true feelings" Frieda says as she pulls Florian into a massive hug._

 _(30 minutes later, Meier Estate, Mitras)_

 _Frieda had just arrived at Nick's house and knocked on the door, a fee seconds later Nick's Mother answered the door, "Oh, hello Frieda, what brings you here", she asks politely._

 _"I came to talk to Nick" comes her very blunt reply._

 _"He came home about 10 minutes ago crying his eyes out, do you knowvwhat happened to him?", she asks as her gaze slowly hardens at Frieda as she suspects Frieda had something to do with her son coming home in tears._

 _"Yes I do, it was my fault actually" she says but continues on "I was ignorant and very stupid because i didn't realise how he felt about me, and I came to make it right."_

 _Nick's mothers glare hardend even more as she spoke in a threatning tone, "All right Frieda, but if you hurt my son any more than you already have, even your invincible power won't save you from me"_

 _A shiver went up Frieda's spine as she muttered "It won't come to that Mrs Meier."_

 _And with that Mrs Meier let Frieda in to go up to Nick and make things right, as she neared his bedroom door she could hear light sobbing coming from indide the room._

 _This broke her heart as she knew that she caused this to happen to him, she lightly knocked on the door twice and waited for him to answer. She heard footsteps coming to the door as the handle twisted and the door opened revealing Nick with tears still running down his face as he tried to keep them bottled up but couldn't._

 _"What do you want Frieda?" He asked in a monotone voice._

 _"You" was all Frieda said before she reached up with her soft hands to gently grab his face and pull him down do she could kiss him, but she soon realised after a couple of seconds that Nick's mouth wasn't moving at all, which made her wonder if she had broke his heart so badly that he didn't love her anymore._

 _After he realised what just happened, he put his hands on Frieda's shoulders and was about to push her away befor giving in and wrapping his arms around her waist while Frieda wrapped her arms around his neck to push him harder against her lips as she moaned throughout the kiss. Frieda soon pulled away to catch her breath, she used her foot to close the door behind her as she stared into his green eyes before pulling him back down for another kiss, this one was different though as Nick slipped his tongue into her mouth as he began to playfully lick her tongue with his, she tried to fight back but gave in as he licked all around the inside of her mouth, her hands began to pull the bottom of his shirt upwards as a signal to him, he pulled out of her mouth and pulled his shirt over his head and threw it across his room._

 _Now looking at his naked torso Frieda could truly appreciate the Ackerman Clan and all the benefits it carried as she shamelessly stared at his abs that were well defined even without any training at all._

 _She put her right hand on his chest and her left hand on his cheek as she leaned in to kiss him yet again, as she kissed him she curled her fingers on her right hand and slowly dragged her nails down his chest and abs recieving a few encouraging moans from the male under her spell, she repeated this action multiple times using both her hands as she forced her tongue into his mouth intent on tasting him as much as he had to her._

 _He pulled away this time only to bend down slightly and lift Frieda by her thighs and press her against the door of his room, she wrapped her legs around his waist as she could feel the growing bulge through the thin fabric of their clothes, he began by kissing her softly on her lips before moving to her cheeks, down to her jaw before tracing down her neck with his tongue earning a gasp from Frieda as she pulled his hair and rolled her hips into him earning a solid moan from Nick, he began kissing her neck, trying to find her sensitive spot and he found it at the base of her neck next to her collarbone, he began to suck at it, hard, earning a very loud moan from a very aroused Frieda._

 _He began to undo thr buttons on her shirt as she searched his neck for the sensitive spot, finding it as he got the last button undone eliciting a heavy groan from the man holding her in place against the door._

 _She shrugged her shirt off leaving only a white bra separating their bare chests from touching each other, he moved to undo it, skillfully unhooking the latch in one fluid motion and letting it drop to the floor._

 _They moved in to kiss gain while she scratched his back with her nails while his pecs rubbed against her breasts, however before he could go any further he was pushed onto the floor by a topless Frieda who spoke in a menacing voice "Is this what you wanted Nick?, to make me yours?, to make me fall in love with you?."_

 _"What are you saying Frieda?, why did you stop after saying you wanted me?." He questioned, "Was I not good enough?, Please just tell me Frieda." He pleaded with her._

 _"Oh Nick, you let yourself fall so desperately in love with a girl who you know only has 10 years left to live, a girl who would never love someone like you, a girl who inherited the lost memories of the world but refuses to give them back, the girl who believed she could save humanity by gaining the invincible power, but how wrong was she, it ruined her personality, ruined her moods, but most of all it ruined the chance you may have had with her."_

 _"What are you saying Frieda?, you're not making any sense"_

 _"What don't you understand stupid boy, I DON'T LOVE YOU, AND I NEVER WILL."_

 _At this revelation Nick burst into tears as Frieda had revealed her true colours to him and he just wanted to disappear at that point in time._

Nick woke up by thrusting himself upwards realising that that had been a dream, but his feelings in the dream for Frieda had been real, even if he was only 14 years old, he still believed he had a shot at being with her in the future.

 _A_ s he took a look at his surroundings and he noticed peope filling off the boat as he realised that they had made it to Wall Rose.


	4. After the Fall : 845-847

_"Wow. That was a weird dream"_ Nick thought as he strugled to stand up to begin with and leaned on the wall of the boat for support. He looked over to his left to see that Ella's body was missing, " _They probably took her to be buried"_ he mused as he he made his way off the boat with his clothes still caked in blood, with a dried blood trail from the side of his head to his chin, signalling he had stopped bleeding at this point.

He looked around trying to find the human coconut he had talked to before his weird, but strangely arousing dream, in fact he began to get aroused just thinking about it.

" _This is not the time to get hard!"_ He chastised himself for even thinking about Frieda that way at his age.

But as he continued to think, he began to get more and more nervous because he promised Ella he would tell Frieda that he loved her, but at the same time he could only think about what she said in his dream, that she didn't love him and never would.

" _But that was just a dream, wasn't it?",_ he thought as he became more and more confused at the meaning of his dream.

He pulled himself away from his thoughts of the "prettiest woman ever" as he realised that he had no way to get back into Wall Sina, because the passes that they needed were carried by Olivia, who he had seen get bit in half by that titan. He visibly winced at the horrific memory resurfacing in his mind.

He now realised that the only thing he could now do was wait until his parents sent someone to get him from the refugee camp, because the garrison are hardly going to believe that a noble from Mitras is living amongst the refugees.

But what Nick didn't know was that the dream was not a random occurrence, no, Frieda had done something to him just before she was eaten by the Attack Titan in the cavern, under the Reiss Family Chapel, and what she did would remain with him until the day he died.

(68 hours later, Wall Rose Inner Gate, Trost)

"Everyone knows what he looks like, yes?", Asked a woman in her mid thirties to a group of about 14 MP's.

"Yes Ma'am" came the chorused replies from the soldiers.

"If you find him fire a green flare into the sky to signal to me, and i will be there, Understood?"

"Yes Ma'am"

"And remember we are not leaving Trost until we find out what happened to my son, Good now get moving."

With that the MP's scurried off in different directions looking for any sign of the missing noble and the squad that went with him, they were expected back at Mittas over 30 hours ago, and with the news of Wall Maria being lost to the titans and then the untimely demise of Frieda, Florian, Dirk, Urklyn, Abel and Lady Reiss, Abigail put her head into her hands " _How am I going to tell Nicholas what happened to Frieda and Florian?",_ she always knew that Nicholas had been good friends with Florian, often helping her when she had a problem with school work or something like that.

But with Frieda it was a completely different story, they met when Nick was seven and Frieda was eleven, they became friends when nick tripped and cut his knee on the street, but Frieda who was visiting with her father, Rod, helped him clean the cut and bandage it before Nick told her that she looked "very pretty" and asked her to be his friend.

However as the years passed, Abigail noticed something different about how he behaved when around Frieda, she noticed that his gaze would linger on Frieda for a few moments longer than before, she even noticed him blatantly staring at her a few times, she thought it was a harmless crush at first, but in this past few months she noticed that he would become jealous at the sight of Frieda talking to other boys her age from Mitras, but only Nick knew of the power that she held within her and the burden she carried.

She had come to the conclusion that her son had fallen head over heels in love with the holder of the Founding Titan, and she secretly held out hope that Frieda would have made her son happy in the short amount of time she had left because- she abandoned her current thoughts as she saw the green smoke signal come from the west side if Trost as she ran full speed there in her dress towards where her son would hopefully be.

She ran full speed for about 3 minutes without breaking a sweat, perks of the Awakened Power in her blood, as she saw her son covered in bloody clothes she rushed forward and trapped him in a bone crushing hug, which he returned with almost equal strength.

"Nick I need to tell you some-"

"I have it mom" He interrupted her as she started to cry.

"Have what?" She asked not wanting it to be true.

"The Awakened Power you talked about, it helped me pull Ella from underneath a building before she bled out" he replied with tears beginning to form in the corners of his eyes.

"Nick" she spoke "I'm so sorry that happened to you but you need to know..."

"Know what?" He asked, unsure if he wanted to hear the news.

"It's Frieda and Florian, they ... they died the night the wall fell"

"What" he whispered desperately not wantimg to believe what he just heard, after a few seconds he broke, he started crying uncontrollably into his mother's shoulder holding onto her as tight as he could, it wasn't just the sheer amount of tears she had to deal with but also the loud sobbing noises he was making, which had attracted quite the crowd, three of which being Armin and his two unnamed friends from Shiganshina.

After a few minutes of non-stop crying from Nick he fell asleep on his mother's shoulder as she picked him up to take him back to the carriage to take him back home to Mitras.

(7 weeks later)

To say that his parents were extremely worried about him was a severe understatement, this was because he barely left his room, barely ate, barely drank anything and hardly ever talked at all.

He usually spent his days locked up in his room thinking about Frieda and Florian and then proceeding to cry and cry and cry, not just because of what he had lost, but because of the things that were left unsaid between him and Frieda. He longed to know if there was a chance she felt the sane about him and he regretted not telling her that he loved her, even though he was just 14, he still just wanted her to come back so he could tell her, hug her, hold her or even kiss her until the world stopped spinning, but he realised that would never happen and the closest he would get to seeing her again would be the memories he had of her, the ones that he valued even more than his own life at this point, because he was so desperately lonely without being able to tease Florian about her short height, or just be able to stare at Frieda and into her eyes for hours on end because he would never get bored of looking at her.

"Nick, honey, are you okay?", he heard his mother ask from outside, concern very clear in her voice.

"Im fine mom", he spoke trying to convince her he was fine.

"Nick... would Frieda want you to do this?, to stay inside where you're only hurting yourself constantly thinking about her, wouldn't she want you to be happy?, to live your life to the fullest?."

"All I want to do is remember the times we spent together in peace, with no one to interrupt me while I remember her."

He heard no reply, only footsteps getting further away from the door as the mother left to discuss with his father what they should do about him.

A few minutes later his tears ran dry as he cried himself to sleep.

 _He woke up in his room facing the wall, he threw the blanket off of him and made to get up off the bed to get some food and water, but when he got up he saw Frieda Reiss standing about 5 feet away from him._

 _"Is that really you Frieda?" He asked not believing what he was seeing._

 _"Yes, it's me Nick", she replied with a small smile on her face and a faint blush on her cheeks._

 _Upon hearing this he lunged forward, tackling her to the floor wrapping his arms around her as tight as he possibly could, determined to not let her go this time, as she got over the initial shock of being speared onto the carpet she returned the hug. He began to cry into her shoulder saying things like "I thought you had died", "I'm so happy to see you again" and "Is Florian okay too?"._

 _"How do I explain this" she thought to herself as she began, "Nick, I technically am dead."_

 _"How can you be dead if you're right here?"_

 _"Physically, along with Florian and everyone else, I am dead"_

 _"But how can you be here then?" He exclaimed, very confused as to what's happening right now._

 _"Before I died, I used the power of the Founding Titan to transfer my consciousness to your mind" she told him trying to get him to believe what she was saying._

 _"But thats not possible, I'm not a subject of Ymir like the rest of the people within the walls."_

 _"That only means that I can't alter or erase your memories, but all living things are connected together by the power of the Founding Titan, so i could do this so that I wouldn't have to leave you alone"_

 _Too shocked to form words he puts his head back into her shoulder to cry tears of happiness as she began to run her hands through his hair to calm him down._

 _"Will I be able to speak to you when I wake up?" He questioned her, "You should be able to" came her reply._

 _And with that he knew what he wanted to do in order to honor Frieda's memory, and to make her proud as she was now effectively living inside of his head._

When he woke up he tried to talk to he, "Frieda", ... no response, _"Frieda",_ he tried internally, ... again no response.

" _Was this just another crazy dream"_ he thought, disappointed that he had been fooled by his mind again.

He heart a short giggle from inside his head, "Frieda" he exclaimed, "Is that you?" He questioned hardly believing what he heard.

"Yes it is me Nick", never in his life had Nicholas Meier smiled so much as any given moment. They spent the next 30 minutes chatting about what happened before, during and after the fall, but they had missed out one important topic, the fact that Nick was conpletely in love with her and now she was living in his head with all those thoughts and feelings swimming around.

About 5 minutes later he stormed though the house, determined to find his parents together and tell them of his plans for the future, he found them both in the kitchen sitting at the table eating breakfast.

They were surprised to see him as itwas the first time in days they had seen him outside his room.

"How are you honey?" His mom asked still shocked to see him this early in the day.

"Do you remember asking what Frieda would want me to do?" His mother nodded "Well i know what im going to do now." She leaned forward hoping for a positive answer.

"I'm going to join the military."

(18 months later, 4 weeks before the 104th Trainee Corps Rite of Passage)

It took months of convincing his parents that this was what he wanted to do and that he could take care of himself, being an Ackerman with the Awakened Power.

Even then his parents still tried to convince him to stay and not "throw his life away" fighting for the freedom that Frieda wanted for these people.

A few weeks before the Rite of Passage he went to his mother with a special request.

"Mom I want the tattoo" he spoke blunt and straight to the point as usual.

"Are you sure?, it can be a painfull process."

"Yes I'm sure about this", he spoke determined to see this through.

"Alright then, what arm do you want the tattoo on?" She asked.

"I want it on my back" he replied "As big as you can make it".

His mother looked shocked at his request but then continued telling him to lay face down on the table and to "prepare for the worst".

He had spent 8 hours every day for the oast 4 days on that table, but at leadt he got to talk to Frieda inside his head during the time.

Now looking in the mirror of his new tattoo on his back, he could say it was worth it, it was done in ink as black as the night sky, in the centre a block capital A reaching from just below the top of his spine to just above the back of his hip bones. At the top curving downwards around the A was the word "Ackerman", and at the bottom curving upwards was the word "Family".

Now with his new remindef of who he actually was, he could bow whole heartedly promise to Frieda that he would bring freedom to the people of the walls, and nothing, not even the nine Titan Shifters would stand in his way.


	5. 104th Cadet Corps : Part One

Ever since he heard about the deaths of Frieda and Florian from his mother at the refugee camp in Trost, it could be said that Nick had trouble making any friends, mainly because he put no effort into making any at all.

Before Frieda had revealed that she was still technically alive by forcing her conscious mind into his, effectively saving Nick from himself in the process, he barely spoke any words at all, even though he had gotten better since she had talked to him and convinved him that she had indeed survived and that he had not gone crazy, he had started talking to his parents again and even some of the workers in his family estate in Mitras.

However when it came to joining the military he was terrified, not because of the hard training regime, not the lack of privacy altogether, not even the shit they called food in the military, he was terrified because he knew he would have to make friends within the cadets, because he knew he wasn't a one man army, he would need all the help he could get from his fellow trainees.

The reason he was so scared of making friends was that he had effectively been traumatised by the fact that he had lost all six of his friends in the space of a few days almost two years ago, he was afraid of the emotional attachment that would come with the friendships he would have to form, but most of all he was scared of the pain that would come if any of them died, he was afraid that that pain would never go away because unlike what Frieda had done, they wouldn't be able to do that.

Unless they held the power of the Founding Titan, that was very unlikely in itself, but even then it requied Royal Blood to use it so nothing could be done in the event of the death of a friend.

Frieda had been doing what she could in order to help him prepare for life in the military, she had even found a way to give herself a visible form to Nick so that he could see her again, which brought a smile to his face when she showed him, and she became happy just being able to see him smile again.

In her visible form she could wander about looking at things through her eyes instead of constantly seeing what Nick sees 24 hours a day.

She preferred to keep to her visible form just so that he would smile every time he looked at her, she caught him staring at her numerous times, possibly in the hundreds, this had caused her to blush most of the time because she knew his true feelings for her, and even after the dream between them she had saw she couldn't deny at least being physically attracted to him.

Now standing at 5 foot 8 at 15 years old, his hair had become a little longer and curlier, with him having to contantly brush hair off of his forehead. His muscles had also grown exponentially over the past year and a half, with him becoming much more physically fit, and combining that with the constant hand to hand combat lesons from his mother at a young age to "protect himself" from any potential dangers, Frieda had to admit, he would make quite the soldier, plus she would get to see him wearing the very tight uniform.

So here he was standing in formation in the seventh row with his hands behind his back while Chief Instructor Shadis went about scaring the recruits into submission.

As he went along the first and second rows, with Frieda walking behind him to look at the poor recruits, Nick could only think of the great respect he had for the man, because of his previous occupation of 12th Commander of the Survey Corps, being one of the soldiers brave enough to fight the titans head on in order to give humanity a chance to live outside the walls.

As Shadis reached the third row he passed by some of the recruits who looked like they had already been through hell, Shadis stopped in front of a familiar blonde coconut. " _Armin"_ , Nick thought, " _why are you here"._

"WHAT IS YOUR NAME MAGGOT", Shadis practically screamed into his face, Armin then saluted and replied saying, "Armin Arlert from the Shiganshina District Sir."

"What a ridiculous name, did your parents name you that?", he yelled, spitting in Armins face in the process.

"It was my grandfather Sir" came his very scared reply.

"WHY ARE YOU HERE ARLERT?"

"TO CONTRIBUTE TO HUMANITIES VICTORY SIR."

"Great" Shadis replied "You'll make first rate titan feed", and with that he placed his hand on his head and spun him around while shouting "Row three, about face."

After that Nick started to zone out and just started to blatantly stare at Frieda, well it would have been if anyone else could see her, but he was glad only he could see her, he would probably beat the shit out of any guy who had the audacity to stare at her unrivalled beauty.

"You know I can hear you thoughts, right?" she called out to him while inspecting the fourth row recruits.

He flushed red at his embarrassment of being caught out by her " _Sorry Frieda"_ he apologised.

"Its alright" she cooed "Just don't let anybody see you staring at nothing, they might think you're crazy."

" _Crazy in love"_ he thought making sure to block Frieda from hearing that, not wanting a repeat of the time she caught him thinking about her ass.

"What was so important that you had to block me from hearing it?", she questions while her suspicions are raising.

" _Nothing important"_ came his nonchalant reply.

She looked around a very tall, dark haired recruit while narrowing her eyes, "You better not be thinking about my ass again Nick"

He flushed an even darker shade of red than before, " _I was not"_ came his stuttered reply before he gained confidence " _What's so wrong about me thinking about your ass anyway Frieda?."_

He could see her face turn into a grin as she moved behind a small blone haired girl with her hair hanging over her right eye, "Maybe you should wait until the Instructor isn't standing in your face before flirting with me" she called out to him in quite a suggestive tone.

His face dropped instantly as he looked straight ahead, " _Oh Fuck",_ "ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME SHITHEAD, I SAID WHAT'S YOUR FUCKING NAME."

Nick instantly saluted, "Nicholas Meier from the-", "NO ONE GIVES A SHIT WHERE YOU'RE FROM OR WHY YOU'RE HERE."

Nick had to resist the urge to wipe Shadis' spit from his face.

"Actually no, tell us where you're from shitstain so we can all laugh at your pathetic hometown." Shadis yelled, getting even more spit on Nick's face.

" _Shit"_ he thought, " _there goes laying low",_ "I'm from the Inner District Sir."

Silence. Thats all there was until a certain Instructor broke it, "IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE SOME KIND OF JOKE?", Shadis looked furious now, as if Nick had just insulted his mother.

"No Sir, I'm afraid not."

Silence. Again.

"Tell me Meier" Shadis now spoke in a very creepy low tone, "Do you think that you're better than anyone here?"

"No Sir"

"Then why are you here" he spoke getting creepily close to his face while Frieda was laughing her ass off behind them.

"I made a promise Sir, and I intend to keep it."

Shadis rose from his face before speaking "Alright then Meier" before leaning into his ear to whisper "Enjoy your next three years of hell, pretty boy."

And with that Shadis stalked off to go terrorise some other recruits, about five feet away he could see Frieda on the floor laughing so hard she was struggling to breathe.

"SEVENTH ROW ABOUT FACE", he quickly turned around not wanting to face Shadis' wrath yet again.

He tuned out yet again as he noticed Frieda going about inspecting the recruits like Shadis had, minus the intense stares and the screaming of course, his eyes quickly settled on a sight to behold, her ass.

He wasn't sure how long he was staring before Frieda turned round and walked up to him as his face turned redder by the second before whispering in his ear "If you wanted to stare at my ass, you could have just asked" she said very seductively.

" _Wheres the fun in asking, I prefer the thrill of trying not to get caught in the act"_

Well look where that got you"

" _Yeah, its giving me a very nice view of your eyes"_ and down your shirt, making sure to block that thought off.

Blocking me out again are you?, I might have to start fighting against that."

God he loved this woman, even if she was technically dead, they could still enjoy each others company most of the time. Especially him enjoying hers ALL the time.

He was interrupted as Frieda began to walk away with a very noticeable sway in her hips, almost definitely teasing him, he just stared, yet again with his mouth slightly hung open before he had to wipe the drool coming out of his mouth.

"I saw you drooling" she shouted back at him.

" _This girl is driving me crazy."_

Then he heard it, 3 words, a name and a district, he recognised the name and the hone town, it was Emily Schön from the Karanes District, she was Ella's little sister.

After Shadis dismissed them for free time until their training started tomorrow Nick wanted to seek out Emily and apologise profusely for dragging her sister to Shiganshina on that day and just beg for her forgiveness, but he decided against it because of the humiliation that would come from begging for something he thought he didn't deserve.

Emily Schön had joined the cadets in order to get revenge on the titans that she thought had killed her sister, this was because her body was never recovered despite the body being on the boat that ledt for Wall Rose from Wall Maria. The body never returned because in the middle of the night 3 men dumped her body overboard to get rid of any "excess weight".

After Emily had heard Nick calling his name, a new fire ignited inside her, one that told her that he was also responsible for her sisters death because he was basically her boss, even though she would get letters on how sweet, and handsome the boy she guarded was and that he was surely Emily's type, she couldn't help but feel utter hatred to the Mitras resident.

"Hey Meier", Emily shouted across the field as she jogged up to him.

"What is it?" He responded with.

"You knew my sister Ella before she died right?", a crowd had begun to form after the mention of her dead sister.

"Yes, but I'd rather not talk about it" he said hoping to avoid any further questioning on the subject.

"Why not" she sneered "Is it because you're the reason she died."

No response from Nick, he only stared at the ground looking very upset at the mention of Ella again.

Frieda was absolutely furious that this girl dared to suggest that Ella's death was Nick's fault, but there was nothing she could do about it.

An even larger crowd had gathered now at the suggestion of Nick being responsible for the death of Emily's sister.

She put his hand on his chest and started pushing him until his back hit the wall outside the dining hall as she continually berated him for his supposed selfishness for his own survival, she continued until a girls with pigtails pulled her away, apologising to Nick for her friends behaviour.

The trainees dispersed as Nick was left alone with his thoughts, and Frieda until the blonde girl from before walked up to him before speaking "Why were you staring at me?" She asked, boredness clearly evident in her voice, almost as if she didn't want to be here.

"I wasn't staring at you" came his blunt reply.

"Yes you were, and I want to know why?"

"Ok, I was staring because I think you're very pretty" he lied on the spot, impressed he thought it up on the spot quite quickly.

She struggled to formulate an answer to his reveal and he used this opportunity to get a closer look at her, actually she was very pretty up close, now that he thought about it.

"I heard that"

 _"I know you did Frieda"_

Is that the real reason you were staring at me?", the blonde asked, not quite believing that someone had called her pretty. No one had done that before.

"Yes, I do think you are very pretty" came the seroius reply, as he could see that being witty or sarcastic would only make the girl angry.

"No one's ever said that before" she whispered in his direction.

"Well now I'll say it a third time, i really do think that you're very pretty."

"Thank you" she whispers.

"Do you want to be friends" he blurts out with.

"Huh?" She replies with, shocked about his proposal and she thinks that she shouldn't, she really shouldn't, because she will only end up hurting him in the future because of what she is and it will make it difficult for her to conplete her mission.

But then she thinks about it, the fact that he's from the Inner District could mean that there is a sliver of hope that he would understand why she did this if he knows the truth about the world, and she thinks " _maybe it's not a bad idea after all, even then I could use him as a source of information to find the Coordinate."_

All right Meier, we can be friends" she spoke, going back to her cool demeanor as she walked away with a small smile gracing her lips.

Nick thinks to himself " _Maybe these next three years won't be so bad after all."_


	6. 104th Cadet Corps : Part Two

Now that Nick and Frieda were alone behind the mess hall he could openly converse with her without having to use his thoughts to communicate with her.

"That was much easier than I expected it to be" Nick exclaimed in surprise.

"What was?" came Frieda's questioning reply.

"Making a Friend!" He exclaimed with a smile on his face, "I had honestly thought it would be a lot harder than that, all I had to do was call her pretty three times."

"I don't like her attitude" she came back with, "She looked like she could kill with her eyes, but you broke her facade just like that", she snapped her fingers as she spoke.

"She's probably been through something to make her like that, everyone expresses themselves differently, maybe acting like that helps her cope?"

"Although", he continued with, "she looked pretty adorable when she was blushing" he added.

"If a terrifying girl like her is adorable, what does that make me?"

"A Goddess", he muttered hoping she hadn't heard him.

"Aww, Nick, That's so sweet of you to say that, but surely you-"

"Excuse me", a third voice entered the conversation, "I wanted to make sure that you're okay", Nick turned in the direction only to see what looked like a clone of Frieda, only with blonde hair and she was much shorter than her.

He continued to stare at the blonde, miniature Frieda, his mind unwilling to form any sort of reply to her question until she spoke again.

"Why are you looking at me like that?", she frowned, "Is there something on my face?" as she pulled out a tissue to wipe her face.

He finally managed to pull himself together and replied "No, it's just that ... you remind me of someone I knew, before the fall."

"Oh, I'm sorry if it brought up any painful memories" she spoke with great care in her voice.

"No, it's alright, what did you want anyway, Miss?"

"Krista, Krista Lenz" she held her small hand out for him to shake it and he accepted it.

She continued with, "I wanted to make sure that you were okay after what happened with that girl"

"Yeah, I'm fine, in fact I don't blame her for hating me, it was my fault her sister died"

"How so?" She pressed further.

"I dragged her to Shiganshina the day the wall fell" he grimaced at the memories resurfacing, "She bled out right next to me on the evacuation boat, and she told me to tell the girl I fell for how I felt about her."

"Did you tell her?" She replied, getting anxious waiting for an answer.

"No, she was killed by bandits the night the wall fell" he looked away from her into the distance as he said this.

"I'm so sorry, I can't imagine what it felt like" she spoke softly before lunging forward wrapping her dainty arms around him in a hug.

He just stood there not moving as her grip loosened as she pulled away from him with concern in her eyes.

"I'm not going to lie, i was pretty fucked up after it happened, it was only when my mom asked me what she would want I stopped crying over the regret I felt of not being there and not telling her the truth."

It had begun to get dark as the bell sounded signalling that the recruits could eat their shitty tasting rations, Nick almost gagged at the thought of having to eat the shit that would be served to him, he quickly excused himself from his conversation with Krista before walking up the steps to the mess hall where several recruits were standing watching the "potato girl" run laps until she collapsed.

"Damn, the potato girl's been at it for hours now" said a short boy with a buzzcut.

"I thought Shadis was gonna kill her" he added afterwards.

"It's funny that running till the sun set didn't scare her as much as three days without food privileges" said a brown haired kid standing next to Armin.

"Oh look who it is" exclaimed buzzcut, "It's the guy from Sina, Nicholas was it?" asked the guy with the buzzcut.

"Yeah, but just call me Nick, it's easier than saying Nicholas."

"What's it like in the interior" asked Armin, curios about the innermost wall.

"Well... the food is better there, but the air is a lot worse because of all the factories there, and about 99% of the people in Sina only care about themselves and would gladly sacrifice another fifth of the population just to save their own skin, the other 1% however care just enough about other people to let them into Sina if Rose were to fall."

"Damn" muttered buzzcut, "So what part are you then, the 99% or the 1%?" He asked wanting an answer from him.

"I'm part of the 0%, because I can guarantee you that you would never find another person like me in Wall Sina."

"Wow" they all muttered, "I'm Connie Springer by the way, nice to meet ya"

"Yeah, nice to meet you to, what about the rest of you?"

"Mina Carolina" said the black haired girl with pigtails from before.

"Marco Bott" said a tallish freckled boy.

"Eren Yeager" said the brown haired boy, but Nick now noticed the burning passion in his eyes, as if someone had set them on fire.

"Hey, What's that?" Eren asked while pointing to a cart leaving the camp.

"They're the dropouts" came Mina's reply.

"What, but its only the first day!" Exclaimed Connie.

"That's how it is" came Eren's cold reply, "If you can't handle it, you have to leave, though I can't believe they would rather pull weeds than fight."

"You do realise that without them working in the fields we wouldn't be able to eat, right?" Said Nick.

"Yeah, I'm sure you would know all about that having the best food in the interior" Eren came back with, "Isn't that right", he spat back.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Asked Nick, his voice laced with obvious sarcasm.

"I think you could figure it out with your education in the interior", Eren spat back.

"I didn't do much reading for my education, I usually preferred the more hands on stuff", he began to glare hard at Eren while lowering his voice, "Like when my mother taught me how to defend myself, I'm sure i could teach you some of that. Only if your interested of course."

Eren grew a shade of worry on his face as he stuttered out his reply, "No , tha... thats fine, but thanks for the offer."

"Shame. But alright, I'll see you guys later."

As he went inside he left the others outside as they voiced their thoughts about the young Mitras man.

"Dude" Connie began, "That was seriously creepy."

"Yeah, but at least he wasn't staring at you" Eren replied with, still a bit creeped out by Nick.

"I'm sure he's not that bad once we get to know him, if he really was a spoiled brat he wouldn't be here" Armin countered with.

"Maybe Armins right, I'm sure he can't be that bad if he's here" Mina agreed.

With that they entered the mess hall where a number of recruits had gathered around Eren questioning him about the day the wall fell.

Off to the side Nick was sitting at a table by himself but he was intently listening into the conversation, wanting to find out what happened to him on that day.

But Nick could tell that Eren was becoming uncomfortable with the amount of questions being asked of him.

" _Can't they see he doesn't want to answer, What do you think Frieda?"_

No reply came from the girl literally stuck in his head.

" _Frieda, are you there?"_ He asked again, trying to get her to talk to him.

" _Come to think of it, I haven't heard from her since Krista showed up, I wonder if Frieda knows her and that's why she's not answering?. Oh well guess I'll ask her later"_

"I already told you I saw the big guy okay" Eren said, getting tired of the constant questions.

"How tall was it?" Asked one of the recruits surrounding him.

"I heard it stepped over the wall" exclaimed another.

"That was the rumor in my village" agreed another.

"I already told you" Eren snapped, "It was only tall enough to poke its head over the wall" he finished with, hoping the endless questions were over.

"Well what about the Armoured Titan, what did it look like?"

"Is that what they're calling it, looked just like a regular old titan to me" he answered with.

" _What an idiot"_ was Nick's thoughts, " _Acting tough won't get you anywhere in the military"_

"Well what's a regular titan look like?"

With that question Erem dropped his spoon and covered his mouth as he looked like he was about to throw up his dinner all over the table as the very painful memories came flooding back to him.

"Hey c'mon guys, I'm sure he would rather not relieve those memories again" said Marco.

" _At least someone has the decency to stop with the questions" Nick thought._

We're sorry" Connie apologised, ashamed that he put Eren through those memories again. "We didn't mean to-"

"It's not like that!" Eren almost shouted as he slammed his fist on the table kicking his spoon into the air a bit. "Once we master the maneuvere gear I'll be able to join the scouts and slaughter every last titan!"

" _Wow, he's got fire in him, I'll give him that, but I'm sure he wouldn't be so eager if he knew that titans are actually humans."_

"Hey, are you crazy or something", a voice came from the table next to Erens. It came from a guy with light brown hair and a kinda long face, " _kinda like a horse"_ Nick thought.

"It's not my business or anything, but signing up for the scouts is suicide if you ask me", his opinion on the scouts made clear for everyone in the mess hall to hear.

"Maybe, but you seem to be content hiding in the interior with the rest of the MP's", he exclaimed seemingly angry that someone disagrees with his opinion.

"What's wrong with joining the MP's?" asked Nick out of the blue.

"What's right with joining them?" Eren returned his question with. "All they do is cower behind the inner walls while real soldiers fight the titans!".

"Alright then, lets say every MP had a change of heart and transferred to the scouts, who would protect the citizens from criminals?"

"The garrison would"

"But then who would guard the walls?"

"The garrison" came the same reply.

"But if we were going by your logic, isn't the garrison only for the cowards who didn't make the top ten?".

"Well...Uhh", came Erens stuttering reply.

"The point is" Nick interrupted to save him from embarrassment, "That every soldier has a role to play, whether its fighting titans, defendng the wall, or protecting the king and the citizens, you would understand if you weren't so closed minded Eren."

Everyone in the mess hall was speechless, even the self proclaimed scout in training couldn't even fathom a reply to the very true statement that was given to the recruits by a guy from Mitras no less.

After a few seconds of silence the bell went signalling for the cadets to return to their dorms.

Nick was the first to leave, intent on getting to sleep quickly in the hope of talking to Frieda about what happened with Krista earlier today.

He arrived first at the bunkhouse where he would have a bunkmate sleeping in the same bed as him, he hoped it wasn't Eren so he could avoid his rambling about killing titans at all costs.

He managed to change into his sleep wear before anyone else got there which was a plain black short sleeved shirt with matching black shorts stopping at the bottom of his knees.

He climbed up the ladder to the bunk as he lay down intent on getting to sleep, but he was interrupted by his bunkmate who introduced himself as Thomas Wagner, he had blonde hair with noticeable sideburns running down his face, after exchanging some small talk with Thomas and taking the best pillow and largest blanket, Nick began to drift off into a deep sleep.

(Chief Instructor Shadis' Office)

As Shadis entered his office, the moonlight shone through his window hlinting off the metal paperweight on his desk. As he sat down he opened the file on top of the pile as he spoke to himself as he read.

"Nicholas Meier, born to a noble family within the Royal Capital, at age 14 he witnessed the deaths of the 4 MP's assigned as his personal guard during the Fall of Shiganshina" his face bore a surprised expression as he never expected this to have happened, "It says here that he witnessed two of them get crushed by debris from the wall and another get eaten before carrying another to the evacuation boats, it also says she blec out right next to him on the boat." Shadis couldnt believe what he had just read, he thought others from Maria had it bad, but this kid had been through it all.

"Hold up" he spoke to himself, "There's a doctors note here", he stopped as he read it, "Psychological Evaluation", he muttered as he read on.

"Alright, lets see what this says" , he spoke as he opened the document, "Patient name Nicholas Meier, blah, blah, blah, ah here we go, In the aftermath of the fall, the patient seems to have become severelly depressed as well as potentially suffering from Survivors Gulit, as he has often refused to leave his room and often cries himself to sleep every night." Shadis stopped to think to himself, " _What the hell am I reading?, how the hell is he here after going through all this?"_

Nonetheless he continued reading outloud to himself, "Due to the tragic death of his childhood friend Florian Reiss, and his childhood best friend, and from the information his mother gave to me, potential love interest Frieda Reiss he has secluded himself from the outside world, often refusing to eat or drink, sometimes for days at a time, however at the time if writing this the patient seems to have improved tremendously since his "realisation" as he put it, however that being said if another event like Shiganshina was to occur and people he grows close with die in the field, it us highly likely he will have another episode of depression or survivors guilt, as a result of this he could potentially get himself and a number of other valuable soldiers killed in the process. It is not my place to say but my professional medical opinion is that the patient is not fit to serve in ANY combat scenario as the risk of another episode occurring is too high and the risk would not be worth the reward."

" _Well then"_ Shadis grimaced, " _Looks like its not just Yeagers gear that I'm tampering with now."_


	7. 104th Cadet Corps : Part Three

As Shadis finished reading the medical profile of Nicholas Meier he unlocked the drawer on his desk and slipped the file to the very bottom, closes the drawer, locked it and hid the key inside the plant pot inside his office. " _It always pains me to turn away recruits, but this is for his own good, and partly mine. If he died in training on my watch the noble families would be calling for my head."_

He then stepped out of his office, intent on making his way to the supply depot to tamper with the thigh clasp on two of the harnesses required for the aptitude test so that Meier and Yeager wouldn't be able to balance with it.

When Shadis arrived at the supply depot and began to tamper with the two sets of gear he thought about what would happen if they managed to balance with the broken gear, " _If they do manage to balance with this gear I'll have no choice but to let then stay, it all depends on how determined they are to succeed."_

He finished with the two harnesses and put them on the pile at the very left making a mental note of which pile they were on so he could hand them out.

As he stepped out of the supply depot he saw a figure heading for the forest, so being the most feared man in camp and it being almost two in the morning he decided to scream at them, "HEY YOU, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING", the figure turned round for a second before turning and running into the forest to escape the wrath of Shadis.

"GET BACK HERE", Shadis yelled as he began to give chase, following the figure into the forest, he followed the path into the forest until he reached a clearing in the trees, he looked around for a bit before giving up and stalking off so he could get some sleep for the night.

However if he had looked up into the trees, about 15 metres above him, Nick was standing on a branch waiting for Shadis to leave so he could think about what Frieda had said to him in his sleep.

(Earlier)

When Nick woke up, instead of being usually tired since he was a terrible morning person, he felt energised amd ready for the day, but he noticed he wasn't in the bunkhouse next to Thomas, no he was back in his room in Mitras.

He knew that he was sleeping as he usually talked to Frieda in his sleep in his room.

He looked around and saw Frieda about 5 feet away from his bed, but she wasn't facing him like she usually would, instead she faced the wall, signalling that something was wrong with her.

"Frieda, whats wrong?" He tried with and recieved no response.

"Frieda?" He tried again while getting up this time, again no response.

Slowly he put his hand on her shoulder since unlike when he was awake he could physically touch her while he was asleep.

He slowly turned her around only to see tears streaming down her face with her eyes red and puffy from all the crying she seemed to have been doing.

"Frieda, what's wrong?" He spoke again lowering his voice to sound soft and caring.

No repsonse. Again.

He slowly put his hands on her tear stained cheeks, making her look at him, "Frieda look at me", she finally looked at him with her sparkling blue eyes and he spoke again, "Whats wrong Frieda?, does it have something to do with Krista?"

"Yes" she whispered.

"Do you know her?" He questioned.

"She's my half sister"

Nick's eyes widened at the revelation of who Krista was, "But if she's your sister, why isn't she a Reiss?"

"Her actual name is Historia Reiss, I can only guess she changed it because she is the illegitimate daughter of my father."

"So you knew her?"

"Yes... But she doesn't know me." She replied with, surprising Nick a bit.

"You erased her memories, didn't you?", it was a statement rather than a question.

"I did it to protect her, but seeing her here, makes me think I shouldn't have, maybe then she wouldn't have to pretend to be someone she's not"

"Maybe, but you can't change the past, all you can do now is support her for the future."

"How am i going to do that?" She questioned, "I'm stuck inside your head, not hers."

"You say that as if you were put here against your will, but if my memory serves me correctly, you did this yourself" he teased.

She pulled her head out of his hands and buried her face into his shoulder, wrapping her hands round him in a hug, holding him tight against her, he wrapped his arms round her waist, holding her close.

"I know" she whispered.

She put her right hand on his chest feeling his erratically beating heart as she pulled back a bit to look into his eyes again and then spoke to him with an almost pleading voice, "Just promise me you'll look out for her, okay."

"Anything for you" he replied with.

She blushed a bit before replying, "You make it sound like you would follow me to deaths door just to bring me back"

"That's because I would Frieda, I would follow you to the end of this world to bring you back."

"But why?" She asked.

"You already know why" he countered with as she felt his heart beating faster every second.

"Can you say it?" She asked.

He managed to supress the red tint rising to his face before replying, "Why?, you already know."

"Because I've never heard you say it, I want to hear it so I know it's true."

"I can't just say that Frieda" he replied with, "Do you even realise how hard it is to talk to you without becoming a flustered and blushing mess?"

"But if you really did love love me, you would say it, wouldn't you?" She teased at him trying to get him to say it.

He swallowed the lump in his throat before he began to turn a bright shade of red as he began to take the path towards telling Frieda his feelings for her, even though she already knew, he couldn't just say it, he was scared that she was leading him on only to crush his heart like in his dream on the evacuation boat.

"Frieda I... I lo-" he managed to stutter out before Frieda put her left hand on his cheek before leaning in to kiss him.

He thought his heart was about to explode with what had just happened, but before he could react and kiss back she pulled away leaving him with a furious blush on his face.

"That's all I needed to hear" Frieda came out with after she regained her breath.

"Frieda" he started with.

"Mmm" she hummed leaning her head against his cheek.

"How is this going to work?" He asked with a small hint of nervousness is his voice.

"What do you mean?"

"Well... you just kissed me, so I'm assuming you like me to some degree as well, so I was wondering how we are going to work with you being in my head."

"I didn't think about that" she admitted still holding onto him, "But we can try, on one condition"

"Whats the condition?" He asked.

"Promise me that if the time ever comes that I'm not here anymore, that you'll find someone who makes you happy in this world."

"Okay" he muttered.

"Say it" she demanded.

"Okay. I promise."

And with that she leaned up to kiss him again, but this time letting all the sparks fly between them.

(Present)

" _I can't believe i went from making out with Frieda to running away from Shadis in the space of 10 minutes"_ He thought to himself as he began climbing down the tree, confident that Shadis was now gone so he could make his way back to bed for the aptitude test tomorrow.

(The next day)

"LISTEN UP MAGGOTS" Shadis' voice boomed across the camp, "TODAY WE'RE DOING THE APTITUDE TEST, IF YOU CAN'T BALANCE, YOU'RE NOT FIT ENOUGH TO BE BAIT." He shouted, effectively terrifying most of the recruits.

"IF YOU CAN'T BALANCE, YOU WILL BE SHIPPED BACK TO THE FIELDS."

" _Except me, I'll look like an idiot if I don't pass"_ Nick thought.

"Come on love, don't think like that, I'm sure you'll pass" Frieda spoke with a smile on her face.

" _I didn't know we were using pet names already"_ he teased.

"Well maybe if you hadn't woken up so abruptly last night I could have used them then" she shot back with.

" _It's not my fault Thomas kicked me last night"_ He whined internally.

"Guess we'll have to finish out activities some other time then" she flirted, knowing fully well that he would take the bait.

" _Only if you finish first"_ he flirted back with, hoping she got the reference.

"You sure you could keep up with me"

" _Babe I'm an Ackerman, I could take anything you throw at me"_

"Even the wrath of Shadis?" She asked.

" _What do you-"_

"MEIER YOU SHITHEAD, ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING, I SAID GET YOUR ASS UP HERE"

"Right, sorry Sir" he said as Frieda giggled to herself.

As he got himself strapped into the machine he was ready to pass and start his training to reach his goal.

"Lift him up" Shadis spoke.

As he was lifted up off the ground he felt a slight vibration in the left side of his hip, he managed to stay upright until he reached the top before losing his balance and falling upside down.

 _"This can't be, Am I not fit to be a soldier?, No I'm not gonna give up that easy"_ he thought as Shadis was speaking to the others.

"Look what we have here" Shadis yelled, "The pretty boy from the interior can't handle the gear, looks like you'll be going back to Mitras to be coddled by your parents"

"Lower him" he continued with, but before the cadet could lower him he interrupted with a shout.

"NO, I CAN DO THIS", as he shouted this Shadis wondered what he was going to do with his thoughts, " _If he pulls this off I'll have to keep him here."_

Nick used the momentum from his dangling to right himself as the cadets stopped laughing for the moment. He could still feel the slight vibrations coming from his left side, to counter this instead of distributing his weight evenly across his body, he leaned to the right raising his left hip slightly upwards to take the weight off the left side if the harness a bit.

This however was putting an increasing pressure on his core as he had to tense his stomach muscles very hard in order to keep still and not fall over.

The cadets watched in awe as he was seemingly balancing only on his right side, seeing his shirt wrap tightly over his abdominal muscles clearly showing off his thin but muscled torso.

Shadis watched intently with a single bead of nervous sweat streaming down his forehead, hoping against all hope that he would fall so he wouldn't run the risk of looking after the noble for the next three years.

After about ninety seconds of the greatest abdominal workout of all time, Shadis spoke saying "Well, well, well, it looks like you're not completely useless after all Meier, but why were you balancing on your right side?", he asked not wanting to act suspiciously because of the broken belt.

"The left thigh clasp is broken, Sir", he replied while being lowered and then handing the defective equipment to the Instructor.

Shadis tugged on the gear, clearly showing the bent thigh clasp, "Looks like we have a natural", he spoke before lowering his voice so only Nick could hear, "Don't expect the training to be easy, just because you can balance, doesn't mean you can fly, NOW GET BACK IN FORMATION SHITHEAD" he screamed in his ear.

As Nick got back into formation he looked around to see Krista smiling sweetly at him while telling a brown haired freckled girl to "Be nice", he averted his gaze from the duo to see Eren, hanging upside down like he was except he couldn't right himself.

"WHAT IS YOUR MAJOR MALFUNCTION YEAGER?" Shadis yelled at the broken looking teen before he was lowered to the ground before Shadis yelled again, "FOR ALL OF YOU THAT FAILED TODAY, YOU HAVE UNTIL TOMORROW TO PASS, OR YOU'LL BE SHIPPED BACK TO THE FIELDS"

(2 hours later)

Nick finally had some training to look forward to after lunch, hand to hand combat training, his mother had been adamant about teaching him how to defend himself, because of potential criminals and kidnappers looking to make quick money could easily snatch him up. So at the age of 8 he began the training with his mother, which consisted of learning the proper stance with both fists raised to protect the face facing outwards for faster punches, elbows tucked in for effective blocking techniques, dominant foot behind the other, with him standing on the ball of his feet so he could swing with greater power in his legs.

His training also consisted of how to dodge attacks, how to use harder bones to block blows from softer bones, from learning how to throw both larger and smaller opponents to pinnning and effective submission moves such as the armbar, rear naked choke, triangle choke, and Nicks personal favourite the kneebar, because even if they got out of the kneebar they most likely would have a heavy limp and would make it easy to take his opponent down.

He also learned early on not to hit his opponent with his foot, but rather his shin so the blows would deal more damage.

When Shadis was explaining how to properly disarm and flip an opponent with a knife he used Marco as an example and flipped him surprisingly easy.

When they were put in pairs Nick was paired with a girl called Hannah, because as Shadis put it "Anyone could be your opponent in the real world".

"Do you want the knife first?" Asked Hannah.

"Sure, but you better be ready" he shot back with.

She tossed him the knife and just as he caught it he rushed at her, hoping to catch her surprise as he swing the wooden knofe at her, she just about got out the way but before she could react he was upon her again and swept her legs so she fell on her back and he just touched her throat with the knife.

"I win" he spoke, "It's your turn to be the bandit now" he said as he helped her to her feet and passed her the knife.

As soon as the knife was in her possession she swung at him, but he expected that, stepping back to avoid the blow, she came forward again and swung but he grabbed her wrist and twisted her arm above her head before spinning her around and grabbing her other wrist forcing it behind her back.

"Do you submit?" he spoke, all she did was stamp on his foot as he shouted in pain, she used the loosened grip swing at him but he leaned back, grabbed her arm before jumping and twisting his body to get her on the ground for an armbar which he locked in before speaking up, "Do you submit?"

"Yes" came her pained reply, as he let go another person spoke up, "Do you get off hurting girls when you fight them Meier", he turned around to see Emily standing there, with a wooden knife in her hand.

"No, why do you ask Emily" he calmly replied.

"Because we're going to fight, and I'm going to beat the shit out of you for getting my sister eaten by titans."

"Alright then Schön, bring it", he spoke as he got into his stance waiting for her to make the first move, he could see the hatred in her eyes as she dashed forward, intent on hitting him as hard as she could, she swung straight for his face, so he stepped to the side, her momentum carrying her forward as he stuck his foot out and she tripped, face planting into the dirt.

"You cheat" she yelled, furious that he had tripped her over like that, by now a crowd had gathered to watch the fight in the midfle of the circle, she got up and rushed towards him again, swinging for his stomach this time, he grabbed her forearm, moved in before flipping her over his body before grabbing the knife and holding it against her throat as he sat on her stomach before whispering to her, "Your sister was my friend too, how do you think I felt when she died, oh and she wasn't eaten, she bled out in my arms, if you don't believe me, ask Armin, he was there too." And with that he got up and walked off leaving Emily stunned, " _Have i been wrong this whole time, I'll ask Armin later to see if he's telling the truth and if he is i guess I'll have to apologise for being a huge bitch towards him."_

As he walked away he heard a cold and enotionless voice talk to him, "Who taught you how to fight like that?"

"My mother did, Why?" He asked now seeing it was Annie, his first official friend in the cadets.

"Your fighting style is similar to mine, but it was my fathers own technique that I was taught" she responded with.

"Is that so" he jested, "Maybe we should fight some other time to see who's the better fighter"

"Maybe we should" she agreed before walking off without saying another word.

He couldn't see it, but for the second time in as many days Annie Leonhart had smiled.

(After Dinner, Boys Bunkhouse)

"Come on guys, you gotta help me, whats the secret" Eren pleaded with Connie and Jean, desperate to pass the test tomorrow.

" _Wow, he must be desperate if he's actually asking Jean for advice" Nick thought._

Eren please calm down" urged Armin to his now desperate companion, "Eren's been trying to use the gear but he can't get his balance right."

A smirk made its way onto Jean and Connie's faces, "What's the trick to having balance?, I don't know, maybe I just have natural talent" Connie spoke, clearly making fun of Eren.

"I'm still tring to figure out your secret. You've failed every possible, aside from strangling yourself with the wires", spoke Jean, clearly enjoying the fact that Eren was basically begging him for help with the gear.

"Come on guys, I'm begging you here" Eren spoke with desperation rising in his voice.

"Wasn't it you who said that if you couldn't handle the pressure you have to leave or was it-"

Nick decided to intervene before it got outof hand, "Have you considered that your gear is broken like my gear was"

"That's what I was thinking, but I couldn't find anything wrong with it" said Armin.

"You should keep practicing, but also ask Shadis to check the gear if you still can't work it."

"Y'know Nick, for a guy from Sina, your not so bad." Said Eren, clearly appreciating the advice given to him by the Sina native.

"Thanks, I appreciate it" Nick replied.

With that Eren walked off with Armin to the practice area to try some more before voice called out, "Hey, Armin, wait up", Eren and Armin both stopped and turned around to see who it was that called out.

"Oh hi, Emily was it?" Asked Armin.

"Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about something Armin. Alone" she added hinting for Eren to leave.

"O-Okay, Eren I'll meet you at the practice area" he said signalling for Eren to leave them alone.

"Alright, but don't take too long" Eren spoke as he walked off to meet Reiner and Bertholdt at the practice area.

"What did you want to ask?" Armin spoke, turning to face Emily now.

"I wanted to ask if you saw a red haired MP the day the wall fell, Nick said she bled out, but my family were told she was eaten by titans, so you could probably tell why I was angry at him yesterday and today."

"I did actually, Nick was there too, she was bleeding a lot at the time on the evacuation boat, he was talking to her, Oh and he was crying a lot as well, if that helps."

"It does, thank you Armin", Emily thanked him and began to think about how she would apologise to Nick in the morning, " _Not that I deserve his forgiveness after how I acted towards him"_ she thought to herself.

(Later that night)

"That was sweet of you to help Eren while those two boys made fun of him" Frieda spoke as she walked towards him.

"I didn't want to see him get kicked out, we need people like him who are willing to fight titans so that others have a chance at living in the future"

"You're so nice" she said giving him her sweet smile while brushing his hair to the side with her hand.

She leaned up to kiss him like she had done the previous night, but unlike their first kiss she had her hands wrapped around his neck pushing his lips harder against hers, she forced her tongue into his mouth intent on winning the battle this time and make him submit to her. However he fought back by closing his lips around her tongue and pulling away, slightly stretching her tongue in the process. He grabbed her thighs pulling her up as she tightly wrapped her legs around him as he kissed, licked and bit her neck, with the intent of making her moan for him, as he pulled back Frieda grabbed the bottom of his shirt, hauling it over his head, as he leaned her against the wall she let go of his neck running her nails down his torso, earning a slight moan from the man holding her up.

He set her down so he could take her shirt off in one swift motion by grabbing the bottom of her shirt and teasingly lifted it slowly over her head. After the successful shirt removal he noticed that she wasn't wearing a bra as he pushed himself against her, their bare chests rubbing together as her hands ran down his torso going underneath his shorts, desperate to finish what they had started the night before.


	8. 104th Cadet Corps : Part Four

It was the third day of training, the ones who failed the aptitude test yesterday were going to retake the test today. Eren was hopeful after practicing through the night with Armin, Reiner and Bertholdt.

Thomas however woke up feeling tired and a bit sore after being paired with Reiner for the combat training yesterday, the guy was built like an ox, and he was a good fighter too. Thomas had woken up about 20 minutes before Shadis would come charging into the bunkhouse to yell at everyone to get dressed and get in formation, so naturally most of the recruits got up early to avoid his early morning routine.

Thomas had taken note yesterday to not wake Nick up unless "they were about to die", as he put it because yesterday Nick kicked him off the bunk for waking him up from his sleep.

When Thomas turned around to see if Nick was sleeping he saw him with his arms and legs wrapped around his pillow while he was making out with it, getting his saliva all over the pillow, Thomas looked on in disbelief as he continued to watch the session between Nick and his pillow but pulled himself out the bed when he heard him give a soft moan into the pillow.

" _What the hell did I just witness?"_ Thomas thought, bamboozled at what he could be dreaming about to warrant such sexual activities.

"Hey Thomas, what you looking at" said Reiner, now getting up from his bunk with Bertholdt.

"You should come see for yourself" he replied with a grin on his face, "But don't make too much noise, you don't want to wake him up"

Reiner walked over and took one look before he had to physically stop himself from laughing out loud by putting his hand over his mouth, "Oh my god" he whispered, "We have to get everybody up to see this, you get the guys up, I'll go get the girls", Reiner quickly got dressed and practically sprinted to the girls bunkhouse to get them up to see what was happening before it was too late.

Thomas quietly made his way throughout the boys bunkhouse, waking everyone up while telling them to keep quiet in order to keep the show going.

Reiner arrived about 5 minutes later with Mina, Hannah, Emily, Annie, Mikasa, Sasha, Ymir and Krista, known as Historia to Nick, all the boys had already gathered round Thomas and Nick's bunk talking quietly amongst themselves.

"I wonder what he's dreaming about?" Asked Thomas wondering what was going through his head.

"Whatever it is, it must be nice for him, be a real shame if he woke up" replied Jean, finding great amusement from the show.

"Woah" said Ymir, "Lools like the pretty boy is getting some action"

"Don't be mean Ymir" Krista chided in with, "We should wake him up to save him from any more embarrassment" she suggested.

"Why?" asked Jean, "I'm enjoying the show"

"Of course you would Jean, didn't know you were into pillows" Eren joked at everyone else's amusement.

"Shut up Yeager, at least I passed the aptitude test" Jean came back with.

"I'll pass it today for sure, then I'll be able to kill all the titans" Eren replied with.

"Should we wake him up or not?" Annie interrupted with.

"Is that because you can't see the show from down there" came the insult from Ymir.

Annie responded with a glare that could kill, before Krista stepped in by elbowing the brunette, "Don't make fun of her height Ymir, she's fine just the way she is."

"Guys quiet, He's waking up" whispered Armin, as they all turned towards the bunk where Nick's eyes fluttered open as he stared at them all.

"What are you guys doing next to my bed?" he asked, obviously not knowing what he was doing before feeling wetness on his pillow and most of the recruits near his bunk struggling to hold in their laughter.

" _Oh no"_ he thought, " _Please don't tell me I was acting out my time with Frieda"_

"I hate to say it, but I think you were" Frieda responded to his thoughts with.

The cadets couldn't hold in their laughter any more as they all burst out laughing after Reiner set them off, even the kind hearted Krista couldn't help but laugh, the only one not laughing was Annie, but that was because she was holding her hand to her mouth, clearly trying to hide her smile from the others.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU ALL LAUGHING AT" yelled Shadis as he kicked the door open.

He was met by silence from the recruits all standing next to each other, "ANSWER THE QUESTION OR YOU WILL ALL BE RUNNING LAPS FOR THE NEXT 3 HOURS"

"Well Sir" Armin began before being interrupted by Ymir, "Our dear friend Nick here was just having a very intimate moment with his pillow" she came out with, "Sir" she finished with.

Shadis massaged his forehead before speaking again, "Get in formation NOW, and Meier."

"Yes Sir"

"If you soil your sheets, you will wash them with your toothbrush down by the river, is that clear?"

"Yes Sir" he responded with.

"Good, NOW GET UP AND GET IN FORMATION SHITHEAD", then Shadis left, leaving the recruits to continue laughing at Nick's expense before a glare from him shut wuite a few of them up.

After they were dismissed from the formation, he was stopped by Emily, "Hey Nick, can we talk for a sec?"

"Yeah sure" he responded, trying to be polite.

"I wanted to apologise" she started with.

"What?"

"Y'know for blaming you for my sisters death and all, I talked to Armin and he confirmed that she bled out on the boat and wasn't eaten."

"It's fine, I accept your apology"

"You do?" She asked shocked that he had forgiven her just like that.

"Yeah, there's no point holding a grudge, they're pointless, like revenge, they may fuel your will to fight, but it won't make you feel any better if you get your revenge"

"Are you saying that I shouldn't want revenge for my sisters death?" She questioned getting quite angry at his suggestion.

"I'm saying that no matter what you do, it will never bring her back, this might sound cliche, but what you can do is try and honor her memory, don't soil it by making your whole life about vengence"

"So you mean that I shouldn't be here?"

"No, what I meant was do what you want to do, not what you think you have to do"

"You said not to soil her memory" she spoke with a smirk on her face.

"Yes, why?" He asked not understand where she was going with this.

"Like you soiled your sheets this morning"

He blushed a bright shade of red and just about managed to stutter his way out of the conversation and get into the mess hall.

" _He looks so cute when he's flustered"_ she thought, " _Wait what?, I think I have a crush on him"_ she mused to herself, having gone from hating the guy to having a crush on him in less that 24 hours.

When he entered the mess hall, he immediately saw that there were no empty tables, the only table relatively empty was the on that only Annie and Mina sat at, mainly because Annie scared the rest of the cadets away from her.

He got his food and sat across from Annie, who was successfully ignoring Mina's attempts to make conversation with her before Frieda wandered over and sat next to him.

"I can't belive we got interrupted again, maybe you should sleep in the forest so you won't wake up when we're getting it on" she flirted with.

" _Sorry babe, but I like my back functioning properly"_

I thought you didn't like the pet names, love" she flirted back with.

" _Only when you say them with that sexy voice of yours"_

"I'll say them more often if I actually get to enjoy that sexy body of yours" she gave him a flirtatious smirk.

"What are you thinking about?" asked Mina out of the blue.

"Home" he simply responded with.

"Have you meet the king?" She asked.

"Answer these questions very carefully love" Frieda warned.

"Yes, I have", he replied with.

"Did you bow", Annie interrupted with.

He answered without thinking, "No, the nobles don't have to-"

 _"Shit, I wasn't supposed to say that"_ he internally flinched at his own stupidity.

Annie and Mina's faces were shocked, to say the least, "You're from a noble family then", Annie stated after quickly regaining her composure.

"Yes"

"Why are you here then?", she asked.

"Answer this carefully love, you never know who could be a spy, or an enemy shifter" Frieda warned again.

"I want to make a difference in this world"

"That's stupid, wouldn't you rather just survive in the interior" Annie responded with.

"No, because I like helping people"

"If you like helping people so much, go volunteer at a hospital or a refugee camp or something" she spat back at him.

"There's no better way of helping people than killing the creatures that drove us into these walls."

" _Strange, he didn't say they drove humanity to the brink of extinction, perhaps he knows the truth, being a noble and all, he probably isnt even an Eldian."_ Annie thought to herself, deciding to tell their self appointed leader, Reiner about this revelation.

"You're starting to sound like Eren" Mina quickly pointed out.

"Hey Annie" he spoke, ignoring Mina's statement.

"What?"

"Do you ever think that we'll be free from these walls?", he asked trying to get an idea of her thoughts.

"Before these humans can be free from the walls, they should make sure the walls can't be broken in the first place"

"These humans" Frieda spoke aloud, "An interesting statement, wouldn't you agree love?"

" _It does sound strange, but the chances of her knowing about the other nations is extremely small"_

"Unless she's a shifter, it's possible" Frieda said concerned about Annies statement.

 _"It's possible yes, but the Armoured and Colossal Titans were both male in appearance, unless Marley sent more than two?"_

"Just be careful love, you don't know who you can trust"

 _"Okay Frieda I will"_

A similar line of thoughts were going through Annie's head at the same time, " _Why did I say that, "These people", he's probably thinking about what I meant by that, I'm so stupid, even if he's dumber than Connie he'll question that statement if he knows about the mainland."_

(After breakfast, aptitude testing rigs)

"Eren Yeager" Shadis spoke after Eren had been hooked up to the testimg rig, "Are you ready".

"Yes Sir" Eren replied with the fire in his eyes burning brightly once again.

Nick was hoping he could do it without falling over, the world needed people willing to fight the titans, even if they weren't the best.

"Lift him up" Shadis ordered.

Thomas nodded as he cranked the lever, pulling Eren off the ground as he wobbled a bit before seemimgly gaining his balance.

" _His gear is broken, the left side is vibrating"_ Nick thought, " _Quite suspicious that two belts had the same problem with them"_

Eren had balanced for about 30 seconds before falling over again, only for the cadets to start laughing at him again.

"Lower him" Shadis groweled out.

"I'm finished" Eren spoke, clearly saddened by the fact he couldn't do it.

"Cadet Wagner, exchange belts with cadet Yeager", Thomas looked at Shadis confused befor swapping belts with Eren and lifting him back up on the testing rig.

Everyone was surprised except for Nick, who had figured out the gear was in fact broken, and Shadis who had failed in his attempts to stop Eren from getting past the first hurdle.

"Your gear was broken Yeager" Shadis interrupted his moment of joy with, "The thigh clasp was bent, if given a functional piece of gear you may not be worthless after all. Quartermaster didn't notice the defect, might have to visit the supply depot and crack a couple of skulls."

The recruits began to whisper among themselves, amazed that two recruits had managed to balance with broken gear.

"So you mean... I didn't wash out?" Eren asked.

"No, you made the cut, keep training cadet", Eren was overjoyed that he could keep going with his goal of killing all the titans to avenge his mothers death.

(Later that day)

Nick was partnered up with Bertholdt for the combat practice today, and he had to say Bertholdt was good, almost as if he had already had training for combat.

"Hey Bert, have you had combat training before?" Nick questioned

"Uh yeah why?" He responded nervously as Nick connected his shin to Bert's left thigh, toppling over the giant in pain, as Nick practically pulled him up and over his shoulder slamming him into the ground and holding the knife to his throat.

"You're too good to be a beginner, but I've never seen that style before, who taught you?"

"Some guy from my village before we had to leave" he responded with sweat over his forehead.

"Right, sorry about the leg" he replied with, feeling guilty about bringing up his past.

"It's fine, but you should partner up with someone better than me though, you've put me on the ground seven times now"

"If you say so"

With that Nick wandered off to find a better combat partner as he looked around to see if anyone didn't have a partner, he saw Annie on her own as he remembered said he would challenge her someday, " _Well, looks like that day is today"_ Nick thought as he called out to her, "Hey Annie, wanna have a match".

She turned around to see who called out to her, to see the newly revealed noble to her and Mina, she wondered if he was as good as her, but there was only one way to find out.

"Alright Meier, but I won't go easy on you" she told him confident she could beat him.

"I don't expect you to, do you want the knife?"

"No, but you have to stab your opponent or make them tap out to win, alright"

"Sure, looks like an easy win to me though" he jested at her.

"Hey guys look" Connie said as he pointed towards the pair, "Nick and Annie are gonna fight", as he spoke numerous cadets gathered around to witness what they thought would be a great spectacle.

"You ready, here I come" Nick said as he moved forwatd making a sideways slash at her midsection, she stepped back to avoid the blow and tried to kick his left knee. He saw the blow coming and raised his leg so her foot would make contact with his calf instead, " _Shit, she can kick hard"_ he thought after the impact.

"Nice kick, but you'll have to do better than that", he taunted trying to rile her up.

She moved forward this time aiming a punch at his face, he opened his left hand and used it to grab her forearm, he used her momentum to swing her around when the fist passed his face and kicked his shin into her side, connecting with the kick, she stumbled back not expecting a counter at all.

"I'll admit, you have skill, but I'm not going down that easy" she spoke coldly, determined to win now.

He stepped forward this time with numerous slashes as she dodged them all, she tried to counter with a puch, but he dodged, grabbed her wrist and swept her legs, making her fall down, as he was about to put the knife against her she kicked the back of his knee, making him stumble to his knees, she used this to lock him into a triangle choke with her legs while he was kneeling above her.

"Looks like she turned it around" said Jean to no one in particular.

"I wouldn't count him out yet" Emily spoke up, "I'm sure he could get out of that"

"Oh yeah how?", it was Eren who spoke this time, not believing there was an escape on the cards for Nick.

"Don't believe me then look"

As they were talking amongst themselves he was on the verge of being choked out by a five foot tall girl who was underneath him, he tried to talk but all that came out were gurgles that couldn't be understood or the occasional bit of drool from his attempted speech.

"Are you drooling on me?" Clearly amused that she had him locked, "I have half a mind to let you go because of that, but no, I'd rather win" she spoke coldly, but confidently at the same time.

He was beginning to feel light headed as he came up with an idea, he could only hope his strength didn't snap the girl in half while doing this. He lifted his right foot up to get a good grip on the dirt and began to lift her up slightly so he could plant his other foot on the ground as well, when he achieved this, he began to lift the tiny girl about five feet off the ground, as he did this he thought, " _I hope I don't break your spine"_

As she was thinking along the lines of " _Holy shit, He's strong."_

He slammed her hard into the ground and she let him go as she groaned in pain as he regained his bearings from the lack of oxygen, grabbed her leg and locked in the kneebar.

The cadets watching on could only gasp at the show of strength that had just been put on display for them to watch.

" _It's possible that he could be just as strong, or even stronger than Mikasa"_ , Armin thought, slightly worried at the thought of someone stronger than his Oriental friend.

Armin quickly made a note to not get on Nick's bad side. Ever.

" _He would make a great soldier for humanity",_ Reiner thought, his soldier personality coming into play.

" _He could be a problem in the future if he's as talented with the gear as he is at hand to hand combat",_ Bertholdt thought, slightly nervous at the thought of Nick carving up his titan form.

" _If he ever does that to my precious Krista I'll tear him apart"_ Ymir thought, while sliding slightly closer to Krista.

" _You may be her friend Ymir, but I'm gonna marry Krista one day"_ Thought Reiner, getting slightly jealous at how close they were.

" _Mina mentioned that he's from a noble family, I wonder if he knew my father, or any of my half-siblings."_ Krista mused.

"If he was to join the scouts, the titans would have no chance at all", Eren spoke out loud earning some groans from his comrades.

" _If he hurts Eren, I'll kill him"_ Mikasa angrily thought.

" _I wonder what type of food he ate in the interior"_ Sasha thought, drooling at the thought of food from the interior.

" _That was so hot"_ Emily simply thought, wiping the drool from her chin.

As the kneebar was locked in he put an increasing pressure on her knee, forcing her to tap out after a few seconds. He let go of her knee, stood up and offered a hand to her, she looked at it for a few seconds before accepting the gesture and speaking.

"You were a bit rough, aren't you supposed to gentle with this delicate body of mine", she teased in her usual monotone voice.

"Really, because I think you of all people would like it rough"

"Did you just flirt with her?" Frieda interrupted, with a hint of jealousy in her voice.

"Oh really" Annie started before he could respond to Frieda, "Maybe you would like to see just how rough I can be" she spoke still not letting go of his hand.

He could see Frieda, standing behind Annie, staring her down for daring to flirt with her man.

"No thanks, if you remember this morning, I'm in a steady relationship with my pillow and I'm not quite ready to end it yet"

"Thats a shame, I could have shown you some of my, special techniques", she flirted, "Oh well, but I want a rematch" she said going back to her usual voice and walking off, leaving Nick and Frieda on their own in the middle of the field.

"I can't believe she tried that!" Frieda exclaimed, "But you did very well in resisting her advances love, maybe I could reward you later tonight" she purred into his ear.

"You do realise that no one knows that I'm in a relationship, and even then they would think I'm crazy"

"I know love, I don't like not being there too, but we can still have fun together at night"

"What about during the day?" He teased, "There's no fun when I can't hold you, or kiss you, or even just smell your hair"

"Well you did say I had a sexy voice" she countered.

"That's very true, but it gets even sexier when you whisper in my ear"

"Well then" she purred, "I'll have to remember that for tonight then", she then wandered off to observe how the others were doing with their combat training and he started staring at her swaying hips again, just thinking about her made him horny.

"MEIER"

" _Oh shit"_ he thought to himself.

(Later that night)

The bell had just went signalling that the trainees had to get back to the bunkhouses to sleep, but for Nick it was the signal to stop running laps after Shadis caught him "slacking off" and told him he lost food privileges for the night, he had just gotten into bed, his pillow was still wet though, so he swapped it with Thomas' hoping he wouldn't notice, he put his head down on the pillow and as he was just about to sleep he heard Frieda say "They say third times the charm."


	9. 104th Cadet Corps : Part Five

(December, 847)

It had been a few months since the enlistment ceremony where most of the recruits were scared shitless by the Commandant, Keith Shadis, but now it was the middle of winter and the recruits were being sent off in pairs for the first of three winter survival training exercises.

During the past few months the "pillow incident" as it was referred to by his comrades had occured about fourteen times, leaving many of his friends to wander what went on inside his head at night. Of course he never told them, because no one would believe him and because he thought it was a private matter between him and Frieda, his now official, to them, girlfiend.

His relationship with Historia as Frieda liked to refer to her as, not accepting her Krista personality, had progressed well, with Nick giving her tips about how to improve with the ODM gear on occasion, mainly to help her get into the top ten so she could choose the path she wanted to, however this involved Nick holding back, a lot, although there were many others who were more than capable with the gear, namely Jean and unsurprisingly Mikasa, since he had figured out she also had her own "Awakened Power" running in her blood, given her skill with the gear.

When he found out her last name was Ackerman, he was slightly shocked, not expecting to find a relative of his at the training camp, he hadn't told her and he also made sure that no one had seen the tattoo on his back, because he didn't want to explain how he was related to her if she found out.

Ymir was growing suspicious of Nick because of his closeness to "her precious Krista", although she was aware that she was the illegitimate child of a noble from her time in Sina, she wasn't aware of her real name, she suspected that Nick had a "thing" for Krista, like many of their male comrades in the class, but he was different because she could tell he was holding back so Krista would rise up the ranks.

Ymir wanted to talk to Nick to make sure he knew she was off limits, so imagine her surprise when they were paired up for the first winter survival exercise.

"Alright listen up" shouted Shadis to get their attention, "I'm going to read out in order which pairs will leave first, second and so on, your task is simple, you have 10 hours from starting to make your way through the valley to the other Instructors waiting for you"

Nick listened intently hoping he would get a decent partner for the exercise.

"First up, Krista and Connie, next up is Mikasa and Reiner. Eren and Mina. Franz and Thomas. Hannah and Emily. Armin and Jean. Marco and Annie. Ymir and Nick."

" _Oh shit"_ Nick thought, " _She's gonna be on my ass about Historia."_

He looked around to see everyone partnering up as he looked around for Ymir, seeing her make her way over with a smirk on her face, "Hey there lover boy" she spoke, making fun of him for his fun times with his pillow.

"Hey Ymir" he greeted with.

"You don't sound too good, did your pillow not satisfy your needs?"

"Ymir, don't be mean" Krista interrupted with.

"You two have to get along if you're going to be a team" she continued with, smiling sweetly at the pair.

"C'mon Krista, I was only joking with him, isn't that right lover boy?"

"Yeah, it is" he replied with.

"See, he's fine, you don't need to worry about him, just worry about yourself during the exercise"

"Of course I need to worry about him, he's my friend and he helps me with the ODM gear for nothing in return, he's just a sweetheart", Krista exclaimed.

" _That's because he's after your heart"_ Ymir angrily thought.

"That's nice of you to say Krista" he said while scratching his cheek, tring to hide his embarrassment.

"No problem Nick, now I hope to see you both at the cabin at the end of the trail in perfect shape, Okay"

"Yeah, sure" Nick replied

"Whatever" Ymir scoffed.

"Alright then, bye guys"

"Bye" replied Nick with a wave.

"See ya" Ymir said.

(2 hours later)

Nick and Ymir had set off about 15 minutes ago, each pair leaving fifteen minutes after the previous had left, in order to prevent recruits from overtaking each other, although he suspected Mikasa would purposely slow down to check on Eren, he had noticed her overprotectiveness of him and he thought it was just a "creepy obsession", a childhood crush gone too far, even to the point she would scare away other girls from him, effectively leaving him no chance of getting laid in camp, unless he was into perceived incest, even though they weren't related, even then it would still be creepy.

His relationship with Mikasa was almost non-existent because he once floored Eren during combat training only for her to come rushing over and demand that he fight her as a punishment of sorts for hurting her precious brother. He of course accepted wanting to see if she had the Awakened Power within her.

(Flashback)

Eren came flying forward towards him, wooden knife in hand, prepared to stab his opponent. " _Too easy"_ Nick though as he bent his knees, blocked the blow and used the momentum to effectively lift him over his head and drop him on his back on the other side before stepping on his hand, grabbing the knife and placing his boot on his chest.

"You're not learning anything by charging straight at me" Nick said, getting frustrated at Eren's hardheadedness.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw the raven haired oriental tossing Reiner to the side and making her way over.

"Hey Nick" Mikasa spoke coldly, "Think you can teach me some of your moves"

"I don't know Mikasa, I wouldn't want to hurt your pride when I kick your ass" he challenged.

"Holy Shit dude, it's happening" Connie spoke to his partner Sasha as they were slacking off.

All the cadets dropped what they were doing and made a circle around the pair of cadets glaring each other to death.

"Who do you think will win?" Asked Reiner.

"I bet my whole lunch on Mikasa!" Exclaimed Jean, thinking that his crush could beat the combat expert.

"Now way, Nick has her beat all the way" Connie retorted with.

"Who do you think will win Eren?" Asked Reiner.

"I think Nick will win" he said shocking the recruits that he just went against his adpted sister.

Mikasa however didn't take Eren's vote of confidence to Nick very well, " _I'll show you Nick, I'll beat you and show Eren that I can protect him"_

Mikasa advanced aiming a punch at his midsection, he saw this coming but didn't make a move to block or dodge, only shifting his body slightly so there wouldn't be a risk of her breaking his ribs, he tensed his muscled as her fist made contact on the now hard surface, the power of the punch made him keel over as he lost all the air in his lungs. Seeing her chance Mikasa swung her leg for his head aiming to end this quickly, he raised his hands to block the attack as he kicked out at her thigh, connecting with his shin, making her yelp in pain.

"Why didn't you block the punch?" She questioned as they both got back up.

"I wanted to see how hard you hit, and I must say, you didn't disappoint me"

" _What's that supposed to mean"_ she angrily thought as she charged again, aiming a kick for his ribs, he saw this and braced himself as he used the kick to his advantage as he mover in closer, trapping her leg with his left arm as he put his right arm under her left leg, lifted her and threw her to the floor, using the momentary pain to lock her in an armbar, he cranked up the presssure on her arm until it looked like it could snap at any second.

"Just tap out already" Nick growled out, annoyed at her persistence.

"No" she spat back.

"Just tap out Mikasa" Eren shouted out, "He's gonna break your arm if you dont give up"

" _No Eren"_ she thought _, "As_ long as you live I'll never give up"

(Present)

They had gotten four hours into the exercise before Ymir decided to ask the dreaded question to him, "Hey Nick, What's your deal with Krista?"

"What do you mean?" He asked, trying to play dumb.

"Why are you holding back on her behalf?, is what I mean"

"Don't tell her" Frieda pleaded.

"Ymir, what do you know about Krista?" He asked, unsure whether or not to tell her the truth.

"Nick please don't" Frieda pleaded with him once again.

" _I won't say anything incriminating Frieda, please don't worry, I hate it when you worry."_

"Alright love, I trust you"

" _Thanks love"_

"What do you mean by that?" Ymir asked, now trying to play dumb.

"I mean about her past" he clarified, "Do you know about her life before the cadets?"

"What do you know about her past?" She asked trying to extract information from him.

"I know some of her past, but I won't say until I know what you know"

"Alright, fair enough, all I know is that she's the illegitimate child of a noble, and was forced to join the Military to save herself"

"So what do you know about her past?" She asked, wanting answers from him.

"I know she changed her name to Krista, and I think she had a sister that I knew but I'm not sure" he partly lied, not wanting to reveal Krista's real identity.

"Why do you think she was her sister?"

"Because Krista is a smaller blonde version of her, her name was Frieda, she was literally the most perfect girl in this shitty world, she was so nice and caring, kinda like how Krista is, but she died the night of the fall, some bandits killed her."

"So I take it from your description of her you had a crush on her", she spoke seriously for once.

"You could say that" he replied with.

"But why are you holding back in training and helping her at the same time?" She asked, already guessing what she was about to say.

"Because she reminds me of Frieda, and I want her to live her life choosing her own path, rather than being forced to do something she doesn't want to do"

"Wait a minute" Ymir said, shocked by his answer, "I thought you had a thing for Krista, and that's why you were helping her out"

"No it's not like that, because no matter how much she looks and acts like Frieda no one could ever replace her"

"Is that who you dream about when you mush your lips into your pillow?" She asked now getting amusement from his answer.

He remained silent which is all she needed to hear.

"Wow Nick, fantasising over a dead girl, that's cold, even colder that Annie's personality" she taunted him with.

"If you knew her, you'd probably be doing the same" he simply responded with, "Can we go now"

"Alright then, I trust you won't make a move on Krista then"

"If you're worried about that, you should threaten Reiner instead of me"

"Okay, lets go then"

( 9 hours 12 minutes after startimg the exercise)

"Look, I can see the instructors up ahead" Nick announced to his partner Ymir.

"Good, I can't wait to see Krista again after being stuck with you for 10 hours" she said, back to her usual self.

"At least we didn't have to camp out here, I'd hate to mistake you for my pillow" he teased back with.

"Yeah, I'm sure your pillow feels great when you're fantasising about another girl when you're kissing it" she sarcastically replied with.

"Whatever" he grumbled, secretly hoping to get rid of Ymir as quickly as possible.

"Nine hours and fifteen minutes, good timing cadets", one of the Instructors said as they pointed them towards a cabin where they were promised double rations if they beat the 10 hour limit.

Nick and Ymir made their way to the cabin for their double rations for the night, when they entered Nick sat down at the table with Annie, Mina, and Emily, since he liked to avoid Reiner snd Jean's constant teasing over his love for pillows.

"Hey", he said as he sat next to Annie and across from Emily with his doubled rations on his plate.

He recieved a "Hi" from Mina, a slightly stuttered "Hello" from Emily, and a simple nod from Annie.

"How did you guys get on with the exercise"

"Fine" they all replied in unison.

There was a slience befor Frieda appeared at the table and started speaking to Nick, "Thanks for not telling Ymir about Historia and our family"

" _It's fine, I wouldn't do that on my own free will"_

"Maybe I should treat you for keeping your promise"

" _But what if I start moving in my sleep again?"_ He questioned, not noticing Shadis enter the room.

"So you don't want a reward then?" She replied, looking sad at the suggestion.

" _No, no, no, that's not what I meant, it's just that I'm quite concerned that I'll use Thomas instead of the pillow one night, I couldn't face anyone again if that happened"_

"MEIER, GET YOUR ASS ON THE CART NOW, WERE HEADING BACK TO CAMP" Shadis yelled at him as he shot up before getting onto the cart outside to take the first set of recruits back to camp for their day off tomorrow.

When they arrived back at the camp they were told to put their snow gear away at the supply depot.

"Hey Nick, I hope Ymir didn't trouble you too much" Krista came up to him and said, while putting their supplies away.

"No, she's actually alright if you get to know her, she's just a bit blunt sometimes"

"I know, it's just her personality"

"How did you and Connie get on?" He asked.

"We got on fine, although I felt as if I was slowing him down a bit"

"C'mom Krista, don't put youself down, your great at a lot of things, your better than me at the stuff that matters for our final grade"

"I guess you're right, but thanks anyway" she chirped with a smile.

"No problem, see you tomorrow"

"Bye" she said as she waved at him while going out the door.

He finished putting his gear away before getting ready for bed, it was about two in the morning, he climbed over Thomas, got under the covers and hugged his pillow, hoping that he didn't act out his dreams on Thomas instead of his pillow.

"Hey sexy" he spoke as he woke up in his room once again seeing Frieda wearing just her sleep wear this time, she usually changed clothes to make things interesting, one time she was wearing the ODM gear before he had to take it off of her for "safety reasons".

"Hello love" she said as she slowly walked towards him, her legs and bare feet on show for him to look at, "You like what you see", she purred when she reached him, taking her index finger and stroking his chin with it, causing a shiver to run down his spine at her touch.

He reached out with his hand to stroke her hair as she smiled and leaned onto his chest, relishing the contact between their bodies, "Are you just going to play with my hair?, or are you going to play with something else?"

He lightly laughed as he traced her lips with his finger before pushing it into her mouth, letting her suck on his left index finger, he pulled his finger out of her mouth and then she did the same to him, except her finger was slimmer than his, and her skin was so soft, he could honestly suck her finger all night if she wanted him to.

She pulled the finger from his mouth and stroked down his neck with it, leaving a barely noticeable trail of saliva down to his collar bone. He smiled at her actions before finally leaning in for a kiss, she smiled as he led her into the kiss, hands in her hair, pulling her closer to him as she moaned into his mouth.

He prodded her lips with his tongue, but she kept them closed, tugging at his hair so she could put her tongue in his mouth, surprised by her action he smiled and gently bit down on her tongue, dragging his teeth across it as he slowly pulled away.

"Are you trying to bite my tongue off?" She asked, half serious about it.

"But then how would I get my kisses then" he teased back with.

She huffed before pulling him down again and pushing him into the wall this time, he gave a soft moan at the aggression shown by her, she pushed herself harder against him, rolling her hips against his, earning a louder moan from him this time, she was going to make him beg for her this time, because she knew deep down that Nick had a very submissive side to him, she could sense it everytime they did this, the thoughts about her making him yearn for her, making him hers.

As she pushed herself up against him in the wall, she dragged her nails down his neck, she also knew he loved it when she used her nails anywhere on his body, she pulled back to tear his shirt off before pulling hers off as well before taking him and pushing him onto the bed, straddling him in the process as her bare chest was in full view for him to see.

She leaned down to kiss his neck and suck hard on his "sweet spot" getting a very loud moan from the man beneath her, before pulling away and smirking down at him.

"Don't stop" he whimpered.

"What was that?, I couldn't hear you love"

"Please don't stop" he begged louder this time.

Satisfied with her work she began sucking on his neck again while he runbed his thumbs across her nipples, successfully getting her to moan while she sucked on his neck.

She was aching for him now, all this teasing was getting her wet, and she could tell he was extremely hard just from seeing his face as she pulled away from his neck.

He leaned up and kissed her before pushing her onto her back, with him now on all fours above her, grinding his hips against hers, feeling the wetness coming from her shorts made him even harder if that was possible, he stopped the kiss while he still had the self control to, he moved back slightly, trailing his fingers from her nipples, down her slightly toned stomach to the waistband of her shorts, he slowly and teasingly pulled them down and off her sexy legs without breaking eye contact.

He quickly did the same to his shorts, eager to let the magic happen once again, she stopped him getting any closer by putting her bare feet on his thighs, he playfully tried to push through them, but they stood their ground.

He responded by grabbing her leg and placing gentle kisses on the top of her left foot, each one getting further up as he licked all the way up her shin, once he reached her thigh he began to playfully bite at it, making her moan with the pleasure of being teased so much before speaking, "Stop teasing me and put it in already" she demanded, but he knew she enjoyed his teasing but decided to obey this time.

He slid towards her as she parted he legs more to give him better access, he slid the tip against her entrance, not quite taking the plunge, making her moan yet again, he repeated this action action twice more before she grabbed his shoulders and whimpered out a "please", deciding that he should oblige her, he slowly pushed his length in, quite easily given how wet she was.

He slowly slid in and out, teasing her with the slow, but deep strokes, he grabbed her hands and interlocked their fingers, making the moment more intimate between the couple.

"Would it kill you to go any- Uhhh- faster" she groaned out as he rubbed over her sensitive spot.

He slowly started to thrust in and out faster and faster, constantly hitting the sweet spot with his fast and accurate strokes.

"Fuuuuuck, love, you're so deeep" she moaned out while she wrapped he legs around his back, preventing him from a possible escape.

"How can you be so tiiiight- Uhhh" he moaned out as she tightened her vaginal muscles around his throbbing cock in an attempt to drain him of all he has inside him.

"Shiiiit" she moaned out, "I'm gonna cum all over you loooove"

He was still thrusting into her sweet spot while she was writhing underneath him, until she arched her back upwards as she came and attempted to draw out her orgasm for as long as possible, "Oh fuuuuck, don't stop love" she panted out as he kept thrusting aiming to make it as good as possible for her.

He felt himself about to cum as her walls clamped down on his throbbing cock, "Oh fuck Frieda, I'm about to-"

She responded by tightening her muscles around his cock as hard as she could and wrapping her legs around him as hard as she could as he came inside of her with a very loud groan, he thrusted a few more times before pulling out of her and laying next to her, sweat glistening off their bodies from their session.

"That was outstanding love" Frieda spoke after regaining her breath.

"I love you Frieda" he said with complete confidence in his voice.

"I know" came her reply before adding, "And I love you too Nick"

His heart was filled with complete and utter happiness as she had said it for the first time, and he knew that she meant it.


	10. 104th Cadet Corps : Part Six

(The next day)

Thomas woke up the next day after completing the survival exercise just before he and Franz hit the ten hour limit. So he was exhausted and woke up at around 11:30 in the morning since their lovely Commandant had decided to give them the day off today. When he pulled himself off his back and sat up, he looked over to Nick to see him slowly humping against his pillow.

" _Are you being serious!"_ Thomas angrily thought, " _Why the hell does this keep happening!?"_

He sighed to himself as this was basically a regular occurrence now, wake up, look at Nick kissing or humping his pillow, Jean and Reiner make fun of him, he threatens them with a beatdown, they shut up about it and continued with training for the day.

This time however he noticed something different, there was a rather large stain on the sheets next to where his legs met his torso.

" _Are you fucking kidding me?"_ Thomas was furious now, " _No, that's it. I'm done. I'd rather sleep on the floor than next to this horny bastard."_

After that night Thomas left to go bunk with Samuel and Mylius who sympathised with Thomas after dealing with Nick for the past two months.

Nick however was happy that Thomas left, not that he didn't like him, he was his friend and continued to be despite his "nightly activities", but now he had the bed to himself he could now look into Frieda's eyes while he talked to her before he went to sleep at night, with her deep blue eyes often keeping him in a trance he couldn't break away from.

(Summer 848)

It was now time for the summer survival exercise where they would be split into two groups tasked with taking their horses and ODM gear across the plains in the scorching summer heat. Each team had a leader, Marco for team A, and Thomas for team B.

Team A consisted of Marco, Armin, who was the chronicler, Eren, Krista, Nick, Connie, Jean, Mina and Sasha.

Team B consisted of Thomas, Mikasa, who was the chronicler, Annie, Reiner, Bertholdt, Franz, Hannah, Emily and Ymir.

Although Marco was the one of the nicest people Nick had met, he still doubted his qualities as a leader, much like Bertholdt, Nick had noticed, because they both lacked the initiative to take charge of a situation, he thought Jean would have made a better leader for the task because at least he was a realist and said things how they were.

"So we're not allowed to go any faster?" Marco asked to Armin.

"Yeah we are" the chronicler of the team replied.

"It would be pointless if we did" Jean interrupted, "We can finally take our time for once"

"Of course you would say that" Eren sneered at him, "I'm not gonna fall behind because of you"

" _For fucks sake, can't they just get along for once"_ Nick thought, getting tired of the will they, won't they relationship between them.

"Eren wait" Armin called out as the boy sped ahead on his horse.

"Eren stop, we need to keep the formation", Marco said as Eren reluctantly slowed down to get back into the formation.

"Jean, what should we do?" Marco asked to his friend.

"I don't care" he huffed in response, "Anyway, you're the leader, it's up to you"

Marco wiped the sweat from his forehead before saying, "Let's just continue the exercise"

"Look a lizard" Connie pointed out.

"We should catch it and cook it!" Sasha exclaimed wanting to taste actual food for once.

"Can you even cook?" Jean asked, wanting to know if she had the skills required to cook a lizard.

"Of course I can cook, what kind of question is that?" Sasha responded with, now eager to catch the lizard.

With that Jean sped off hoping to catch the lizard for their evening meal.

"Jean wait" Marco called out.

"I'll go get him" Eren announced, racing after Jean and the lizard.

When Jean had caught up with the lizard, it being no match for the speed of his horse, he was about to impale it with his sword, until Eren blocked it with his sword.

Due to Eren's interference the lizard managed to get away and Jean was not happy, "What the hell Yeager!, We could've had some actual food for once"

"At least take the exercise seriously" Eren responded with.

" _Here we go again, it never ends with these two" Nick thought._

Why can't they just get along?" Frieda asked.

" _I don't know, it's like they do this on purpose to piss everyone off"_

"I think they would work better together if they became friends"

" _Probably, but they would still disagree on a lot of stuff, and would still argue constantly"_

"But why do they argue so much?"

" _Its because they see the world differently. Eren sees it in pure black and white, believing that the titans are the only enemy out there and that once all the titans are dead he will be free, he doesn't realise that after the titans are gone the whole world will probably want everyone on this island dead"_ He stopped to take a breath, seeing Marco and Armin trying to calm them both down.

" _Jean on the other hand, believes that we can't win against the titans, that there is no hope for us, that the scouts are just wasting their time, and to be honest, currently they are, the only way of successfuly taking back Wall Maria would be with a shifter who had the skill and power to seal the hole"_

"But Marley held at least seven of the nine titans when King Fritz fled to Paradis"

" _Exactly, so as much as I hate to admit it, we need the person that ate you on our side, because from what you told me on how he acted before you fought, he wasn't with them, so he was most likely the Attack Titan,_ _the only other titan not in Marley's possession after the great titan war."_

"But we don't know where he is, or how to find him, or if he even wants to help us" Frieda countered his thoughts with.

" _I know but, if he was from outside the walls like he said, he most likely spent a number of years inside the walls to become so attached to the people here, in the past 3 years after he stole your power, it's entirely possible that he had to pass on the power to someone else."_

"But who could he have given it to if that is indeed the case?"

"At least I have a mom" Jean shouted towards Eren.

" _Oh shit, hold that thought Frieda"_

You bastard" Eren shouted as he swung a fist at Jean, connecting with his cheek, flooring him as he mounted him to keep up the assault.

Instantly Marco and Connie hauled Eren off of Jean while he was thrashing around in their grip, "Let go of me, I'll kill him" Eren shouted, still enraged by what Jean had said.

"Eren calm down" Armin pleaded with him.

"Not after what he said"

"ENOUGH" Marco yelled, "I've had enough of you two, you're sleeping as far away from each other as possible, in fact no, just don't talk to each other for the rest of the exercise or I'll make sure Shadis knows about this."

" _Wow Marco, nice job"_ Nick inwardly complemented.

"Works for me" Jean spoke out while clutching his face.

Once Eren stopped thrashing about in their grip he conceded defeat with a "Fine" before walking off to the other side of the camp they had set up.

" _Wait when did we set up camp?"_ Nick thought to himself.

"Probably when we were talking, you were quite concentrated on me" Frieda replied with.

" _Who wouldn't be fully concentrated on you, have you seen yourself?"_

She blushed a bit before replying, "It's nice of you to say that, but flattery won't get you anywhere"

" _Maybe not"_ he jested, " _But who said I was trying anything?"_ He questioned her.

"Shut up, go talk to Historia, she looks troubled"

As he walked over to Historia he could see her staring into the nearby trees, "Hey Krista, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just thought I saw something in the trees"

"Don't point at it" he told her, "Tell me where, if you think you saw something, it's most likely something, the mind doesn't usually play tricks when you're relaxed."

"It was over there, by the opening" she told him.

"Alright, I'll go check it out, you go tell the rest of us, make sure they're aware.

"Okay, just be careful though" she said.

"I'm always careful" he said before making his way into the treeline to see if there were any signs of another presence, he scanned the area for a bit before noticing a broken branch about waist height, "Hmm, this could be from an animal like a deer, or a very clumsy human" he pondered out loud, "I can't see any footprints here so it was most likely an animal who did this."

"Did you find anything" Marco asked when he returned.

"Only a broken branch, but there were no footprints, so it was most likely an animal who caused it"

"Most liklely" Mina repeated, sounding scared.

"Yes, but we should still take shifts keeping watch in case it was something else, even if it was a wolf or a bear, they could still attack us while we sleep."

"Alright, that's a good idea" said Marco, "Who wants first watch?" He asked, hoping for a volunteer.

"I will" volunteered Krista.

"I'll take second" offered Nick

"I'll take the third watch" offered Mina.

"Fourth" said Jean.

"Alright then, be sure to not fall asleep on watch guys" Marco said.

(Later)

He was woken up by Krista about half an hour ago for his shift but he still had another ninety minutes still on watch, he couldn't shake the feeling he was being watched though, so he decided to patrol the area, he went and put on his gear just in case he needed the swords, and set off in a circular pattern outside their camp.

He had almost been halfway around the area needed for the patrol he had set out for himself when he came across numerous sets of footprints, all headed for the camp.

Instantly he thought of the wellbeing of his friends and began sprinting for the camp, when he arrived he heard a gunshot and he saw Eren being hit on the head with a gun being told to stay down.

There was eight men, all with rifles, when they noticed him they froze not knowing what to do before one if them spoke, "If you make a move towards us, we'll kill your friends."

He had the triggers in his hands, but the swords were in the blade box, if he tried to pull them out his friends would surely be shot, alternatively he could fire his grappling hooks into one of the assailants to get closer but one of them would surely shoot at him.

" _Shit, what do I do"_ he thought, inwardly panicking at the situation, " _There's only one thing I can do",_ and with that he stepped back before he turned and ran back into the forest, using the hooks on his gear to rapidly escape the criminals.

The recruits were shocked, the most skilled recruit in hand to hand combat they had ever seen, had just run away without trying to help them.

"YOU COWARD" Eren shouted at the retreating noble.

The gang of crooks started to laugh at the situation, making fun of the boy for tirning tail, "Wow, some soldier he was" one of the crooks said to another.

"Yeah, I'm sure he would be great at being eaten" said another.

"Cut the chatter and load up their gear onto the carts" the leader said.

"And take that one as well" he ordered, pointing at Krista, "We need her as insurance that you won't try to attack us, we'll let her go, but if you come at us, we will kill you all."

With that the carts sped off in the opposite direction of where Nick had run off to.

"I can't believe he did that, just running away like that", Eren said, furious at the brown haired boy who ran off.

"He was probably just scared" Mina interjected, "There was no way he could have helped us anyway"

"Yes there was" Eren countered, "He had his gear, he could have fought back instead of running."

"Anyway thats not important now" he continued, "We have to get Krista back."

"But Eren, they said they would kill us" Armin said, still shook up a bit.

"I don't care, I'll go alone if I have to"

"No you're not, I'm going as well" Jean added in, "Need to give them a little payback for this" he said, pointing at the wound the shot had created.

After a few moments they had all agreed to go after Krista and get her back from them.

But they didn't know that once the trap had been set for the kidnappers, they weren't going to be there to be ambushed by the recruits, because Nick had seen the take Historia with them and swore to Frieda that he would get her back.

"You have to get her back!" Frieda pleaded with Nick, with tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.

"How?, I know I'm strong and skilled, but they will get back up if I get surrounded and can't knock them out" He was getting frustrated now, believing that he wouldn't be able to save Historia.

"They won't get back up if you kill them" Frieda spoke with no emotion in her voice.

"Are you sure Frieda?, I don't particularly want to kill them"

"So you would rather them take Historia and leave" she said rather accusingly at him.

"No, why would you even suggest that?, I just don't like the idea of killing other humans"

"What other choice do we have?" She asked, believing that this was their only option.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked, "Once I start killing them I won't be able to stop"

"Why wont you be able to stop?" She asked.

"Because if I kill one of them, they will try their hardest to kill me, so I'm going to ask again, are you sure about this?"

"If it gets Historia back safely, then yes, I'm sure" she replied with.

As soon as she said this, he shot his hooks into a nearby tree, using his skills learned from the past year of training to quickly catch up to the two carts carrying Historia and the ODM gear.

"We're not really going to give her back are we boss?" Asked one of the crooks while rubbing her chin with his index finger.

"Hell no!, I know some guys in the Capital who would love a pretty little thing like her, but who's to say we can't have a little fun with her beforehand"

When he said this Krista started squirming in her chains, disgusted at the thought of one of these men using her for their own pleasure and then selling her off to the highest bidder in Mitras.

"Quit squirming girl, or we'll start having our fun right here" the leader demanded.

She stopped the squirming but couldn't help but shake at the thoughts coming into her head, " _Are my friends coming for me, surely they would, but why would they, even Nick ran away at the sight of these guys and he can be the scariest person in camp at times, he had his gear in and decided to run, whst chance fo the others have at saving me without their gear?. Come to think of it, why doesn't he put his advice for the ODM gear into practice?. Is he holding back... for me?."_

She shook her head at the thought, " _Why would he hold back for me?, I don't think he's interested in me like that?, so why would he?"_

Her thoughts were cut short as she heard an ODM gear line being fired behind her, she heard the sound of the hook being reeled in before craning her neck to look behind her seeing the headless corpse of the carriage driver.

"What the hell was that!" The leader exclaimed before the blur went past again slashing at the wooden supports connecting the horses to the cart, leaving the horses to run off while the cart came to a stop.

"What the hell?, why did they stop?" Asked the driver if the second cart, he looked to the right to see a grappling hook coming straight at him, he had no time to dodge as it got lodged in his throat and was reeled in, tearing a chunk out of his neck, killing him instantly.

A hook was shot across the second cart, into a tree at the other side before two blades cut the wooden supports holding the horses in place, also allowing them to run free.

" _Who is that?"_ Krista thought, " _It must be Mikasa, only she's that fast with the gear"_

With both carts now at a stand still, one of the men made a move to grab Krista and use her as a hostage before the side of the cart burst open as the figure impaled their sword through his chest, the sword was pulled out, grinding against the spine as it was pulled out.

"You bastard, I'll kill you" the leader shouted, swinging the pocket knife he pulled out, the figure raised his left blade to block it and swung his right blade backwards, breaking Krista's chains.

Her chains bow broken she fell over and looked up expecting to see Mikasa, but she saw Nick with his left sword blocking swings from the leader and his right blade stuck in the neck of one of the other criminals. She watched as he tore the blade out of the neck of the one on the right and swung it downwards, cutting off the leaders left arm, then driving his left blade to the hilt through the mans chest, he plunged the right blade through his stomach and then released the dulled blades with the leader falling backwards, slightly propped up by the blades in his body.

"Krista, are you alright?" He asked, seeing how shaken up she was.

"Krista you need to run, I'll hold them off, you have to find the rest of our team"

"What! No, I'm not leaving you here, you could die!"

"Krista I'm wearing gear, you aren't, you need to run" he said as he attached a new pair of blades to his triggers.

"Okay, but promise me you won't die"

"I promise, now go"

Krista took off running in the other direction, away from the carts before she was ambushed and grabbed from behind by one of the men that was in the other cart.

"Quit squirming you little bitch, your little friend just killed all my friends, now I'm going to kill you as well"

"Let her go" a voice demanded.

He spun round, holding a knife to Krista's jugular, seeing Nick with his jacket, shirt, pants and face covered in blood.

"If you come any closer I'll kill her" the man shouted out, tightening his grip on his hostage.

" _I have an idea Frieda, but it's extremely risky"_

"Just do what you have to do to ensure that my sister is safe"

"Take the blades out of the triggers" the man demanded.

"Okay, okay, just don't hurt her" he said as he released the blades, letting them fall to the ground, but he kept his fingers on the triggers, waiting for the right moment.

"Now put the handles down as well" he demanded, while shaking a bit.

"Why?, what could I do with empty handles?" He replied trying to bait the man.

"You could fire the hooks at me" he said while taking the knife away from her neck and pointing at the hooks.

" _Bingo"_

When the man pointed the knife Nick pulled the trigger, launching the hook straight at him and Krista, the hook missed her head by an inch and embedded itself into the mans skull, through his left eye socket, the blood poured onto Krista's head as she screamed out in shock at what just happened.

(500 metres down the path)

"Are you sure they're coming this way Armin?" Marco asked him, "It's been twenty minutes since we got here" Marco was getting a bit impatient now.

"Maybe they stopped again" suggested Mina, "Or maybe Nick tried to fight them off and save Krista himself" she offered up.

"We should check it out and see what happened" Marco finally said after a bit of deliberation.

"Hey guys" he yelled out, "We're going to see what's happening up the path"

Jean looked at Eren before asking, "Do you think Nick tried to take them on?"

"I don't know" Eren replied, "But im sure if he did he gave them a good thrashing"

"Alright, let's go see what happened"

When they arrived at the two carts the first thing they saw was the headless corpse lying on the ground next to the first cart.

"Looks like he did take them on" Jean said, almost throwing up at the sight of the corpse.

"Wait guys do you hear that?" Asked Sasha, "It sounds like someone crying"

After she said this they rushed towards the sound to see Krista with her usually blonde hair caked in someone's blood crying into Nick's shoulder while he hugged her while whispering in her ear.

"Its okay, they can't hurt you anymore, shhh" Were the words he was whispering into her ear as she held onto him for dear life.

At that moment Armin fired a red flare into the sky, indicating to the other team and to the Instructors back at camp that the exercise had to stop.

About 15 minutes later, the team led by Thomas arrived at the location, during the waiting time, Jean, Armin, Connie and Marco had gathered up the bodies, putting them on the ground with their cut off body parts also laid next to them.

"What happened, Is Eren okay" Mikasa was the first to speak.

"I'm fine Mikasa" Eren replied with.

"It's Krista that you should worry about" Armin pointed out, "She's been cryimg nonstop for about 20 minutes"

"What!, Where is she" demanded Ymir.

"She's over there with Nick" Jean said as he pointed to the pair.

Ymir practically sprinted over hoping that the "goddess" wasn't hurt at all, "Krista, are you okay" Ymir demanded while pulling her away from Nick to check her for injuries.

"Yes, but it's thanks to Nick that I'm fine, he saved me"

"It's no big deal, I'm sure anyone else would've done it" he calmly replied.

Krista wiped the rest of her tears away before smiling at him, "Don't be so modest, you did save me, so thank you" she said as she walked up and kissed him on the cheek that didn't have blood on it.

"You look like shit" Ymir spoke up.

He could see the slight jealousy in her eyes before replying, "I know, but it was worth it to save her"

"All right lover boy, just don't get any ideas"

"Don't be mean Ymir, he did save me" Krista chided in with as she lightly elbowed the taller girl.

"Whatever" she replied with.

Eren walked up to him to apologise for calling him a coward when he ran away, "Hey Nick"

"What is it?" He asked.

"When you ran away, I thought it was because you were a coward and only wanted to save yourself, but now I know I was wrong"

"I ran so I could keep my gear and use it against them"

"Yeah, Armin figured it out after we found you, but you did a good job dealing with these animals"

At that statement Nick was furious, they weren't animals, they were humans, okay so they were criminals, but all they wanted was to survive to see another day and he had prevented them from doing that.

He grabbed Eren by the collar and lifted him off the ground and pushed his back into the nearest tree.

Mikasa made a move to get Eren down before Armin held her back, "Wait, he has to deal with this without your interference"

"What the fuck is wroung with you" he practically shouted at Eren, gaining everybody's attention.

"What do you mean" Eren choked out, "They were animals"

"THEY WERE HUMANS" he roared into his face, "One of the men I killed begged to see his daughter after I stabbed him, how do you think that made me feel?"

"But you saved Krista, wasn't it worth it?"

Eren very dumbly asked.

" _Eren how stupid can you be?, you deserve what's coming to you"_ Armin thought.

"No it wasn't worth it you fucking idiot!, I just killed eight people to save one, I didn't want to kill them at all"

"Then why did you?" Eren asked, the lack of oxygen getting to him now.

"Because it was either them or Krista that died, I couldn't do that to her"

" _Is he talking about me, or someone else"_ Krista thought to herself.

"Okay, okay, just put me down" Eren now on the verge on unconsciousness spluttered out.

He only responded by tightening his grip on Eren's collar before letting go, with him falling over coughing violently.

Nick was shaking now, on the verge of tears, he tried to hold them in and remain strong in front of his comrades before Krista came up to him.

"Are you okay Nick?" She said in her usual caring voice.

He tried so hard to keep the tears in, but one lone tear escaped down his face before he fell to his knees and started weeping hysterically. Krista being the kind person she was helped him by doing what he had to her and let him cry into her shoulder.

He had been crying for about ten minutes before he finally stopped and thanked Krista for her kindness.

(The next day)

The military police had been called in to investigate what had happened to the recruits before the attack and about the aftermath, one of the MP's had tried to accuse Nick of murdering the kidnappers who were actually well known professionals in the Underground District, his theory however was thrown out after the Interior Military Police had arrived because it concerned a citizen of the Interior.

After the Interior MP's took over the case, they closed it after about three hours, taking Nick at his word because they just wanted to go back to the Interior and arresting a Noble would most likely get them fired, or worse.

(A few days later)

They had just finished training for the day, with their ODM session being hard work, " _It would be easier if I didn't have to hold back, but it's for Historia's future"_

He was about to leave the supply shed after putting his gear away before he was cornered by Historia as she simply said "We need to talk."


	11. 104th Cadet Corps : Part Seven

"We need to talk"

"What about" he questioned.

"About why you're holding back in training" she told him, having figured it out a few fays ago.

"I don't know what you mean" he replied, trying to play dumb.

"Don't play dumb with me!" She snapped at him, tired of him trying to help her, after regaining her composure she continued, "Sorry for snapping at you, just tell me why you hold back in training, I know you do it for me, but I want to know why?"

" _What do I say"_ he thought, getting more and more panicked by the second, he didn't want to lie to her, but he may just have to.

"I don't know, make something up!" Frieda replied with.

"Alright Krista it's because I uhh... I um" he stuttered out, struggling to think of an effective lie.

"Don't stutter, think of something fast!" Frieda told him.

" _It's harder than it looks, she needs to believe it as well"_ he repiled with his thoughts.

"It's okay Nick, you don't have to be nervous" Krista said while giving him her signature sweet smile, "I won't judge you at all."

"Okay. Thanks. It's because I uhh... I like you" he blurted out.

She looked at him for a second, as if she was processing what just came out of his mouth, "I don't think you do"

"What? Bu... but I do" he quickly spoke, trying to get her to belive what he was saying.

"No. You don't" she stated.

"How would you know?" He asked her.

"Because unlike most of the people who have a crush on me, you don't stutter at all when you talk to me. Ever."

" _Shit, shit, shit, she's seeing right through me, help me Frieda"_ he pleaded with her, desperate for some help with the situation.

"How?, I don't know what to say?"

"Aren't you going to say anything Nick?" Krista questioned, she could see him starting to sweat at her accusations, she could also see he was becoming extremely uncomfortable.

"Krista, why are you here?" He asked, trying to turn the conversation against her.

"I'm here to help people of course, why do you ask?"

"Because I don't think thats true"

"What do you mean?" Krista exclaimed, she herself now becoming nervous.

"What are you doing Nick?" Frieda asked.

" _Trust me babe, I got this"_

"I just think that if you really wanted to help people, surely you would volunteer at an Orphanage or a Hospital for refugees. Isn't that right Krista."

"I don't know what you're getting at but if you think that-"

"Is Krista Lenz even your real name?"

She was frightened now, after running away from her problems for the past few years, they were catching up to her again, she made a move to leave, but was stopped when Nick pulled her back and stood in front of the exit.

"Calm down Krista" he spoke softly after seeing how distressed she was becoming, "I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to know the truth, I promise I won't tell anyone."

"You promise you won't tell anyone"

"I promise"

"Even Ymir can't know"

"Okay, just please tell me"

She sighed and took a deep breath, preparing herself to tell the truth to him after he had figured out that Krista wasn't her real name.

"When I was little, I lived on an estate in wall Sina with my mother and my grandparents, my mother would never talk to me and would spend most of her time reading or leaving in a carriage late at night."

"Why didn't your mother talk to you?" He asked.

"She thought that I was a mistake, and that I ruined her life. I would read books on how mothers would interact with their children, so I decided to jump on my mother to see how she would react to it." She said without the usual smile on her face.

"And how did she react, I take it that it wasn't a positive reaction" he assumed, given how her mother never talked to her.

"You could say that, after I jumped on her she threw me off of her and she said she wished she had the bravery to kill me before I was born."

"Holy shit", he whispered, "I don't know what to say"

"But after that I was happy, because it was the first time my mother had ever interacted with me."

"And your mother, where is she now?"

"She's dead"

"Oh, If you don't mind me asking, how did it happen."

She grimaced as she remembered what happened the night she was given her new name, "She was killed shortly after the wall fell, my father came to us, telling us that me and my mother were going to live with him from now on, but then a group of soldiers showed up asking if we were related to him. My father said that we weren't, and then the leader killed my nother right in front of me, he was about to kill me before my father suggested I take up a new name and forget about what happened."

"What did their leader look like?" He asked, but he already had his suspicions on who it was.

"He was tall, he had sort black hair and he also wore a hat"

" _That must be Kenny Ackerman" h_ e thought to himself.

"I always hated him, he was too full of himself" Frieda spoke for the first time during the conversation.

"Do you know him?" Krista asked, looking a bit saddened at the memories.

"Yes, but that's all I'm going to say right now, it's best we keep this to ourselves, okay?"

"What, you know him!?"

"I said that was all I would say"

"You know the man that killed my mother, who is he" as she spoke she moved forward and grabbed his collar trying to pull him down to her eye level. He remained still, not affected by her actions at all.

"Historia, it's for your own good that you don't know about him"

"I didn't tell you my name, How do you know me?" She was panicking again at tgis point, wandering how he knew her name.

" _Shit, I just fucked up"_ he thought.

"Your father told me about you before I joined the cadets" he lied, hoping she would take him for his word, " He knew you were joining and wanted me to know just in case I made the connection between you."

"So you knew this whole time?" She asked him.

"Yes"

"Did he ask you to help me with my training?" She asked, getting skeptical of his reasoning for doing so.

"No he didn't, I did it on my own accord, I wanted you to have the choice to choose what you did with your life, instead of being forced to do something you didn't want to do." He explained to her.

"So he really doesn't care about me then?"

"I don't know whether he does or doesn't, It's up to you to decide whether he cares or not."

There was a period of silence as they were both contemplating what the other party had said to each other.

"Do you think that you were a mistake?" He suddenly asked breaking the silence.

"I don't know" she truthfully responded with.

"Well then, I'll be the first to tell you that you weren't a mistake. My mother believed that there were no mistakes in this world, that everything happens for a reason, who knows what the future holds, you may end up saving the world one day"

For the first time in a while a genuine smile found its way onto her face instead of the forced ones that her Krista personality required of her as she lunged forward and pulled him into a hug.

Tears of joy had started to come out of her eyes as she held on tighter and buried he face into his neck, the happiest she had been for most of her life.

"Thank you" she whispered into is ear as he held her close to him, feeling proud of the genuine happiness he had just given her.

 _"See I told you I had it covered"_

"Thank you Nick, for making her happy again, she hasn't been this happy since I saw her all those years ago" Frieda said, smiling at the interaction between her half sister and her lover.

"What the hell is going on here" a voice came from behind them.

"Oh, it's you" Nick said as he turned and saw Ymir standing in the doorway.

"Shut up lover boy, what are you doing to Krista?" She asked, the jealousy clear and evident in her voice.

"He didn't do anything Ymir, he just made me happy, that's all" Krista responded with, putting her facade back on show.

"Right, just don't try anything lover boy"

"Don't be mean Ymir, he's really nice if you would actually get to know him"

"Yeah and have him confuse me for his pillow, no thanks" she said while chuckling at her own joke.

"Ymir!" Krista scolded as she elbowed her.

"It's fine Krista, I'll be on my way"

After he left he skipped dinner and went straight to his bunk that he had to himself after Thomas had vacated it. He laid down under the sheets, hugging his pillow as he drifted off to sleep.

(Later that night)

He had just pushed Frieda up against the wall, his lips rushing towards her neck, which she had tilted to the side to allow him to access it better, he sucked hard on her neck, eliciting a loud moan from the woman against the wall, he trailed his lips back up to her jaw, gently kissing the outline of her jaw intil he moved up to her cheeks, trailing kisses along her face until he reached her nose. He softly pecked her nose before attacking her lips yet again, he ran his hands through her hair while he shoved his tongue inside her mouth, tasting her sweet insides, he used the hands in the hair to pushe her against him, forcing his tongue even farther as she moaned heavily into the kiss.

He pulled away to take off his shirt, she used her fingers to trace along his abs, gently tracing the outline of his defined muscles, then she put her hand on his face, pulling him in for another round of hot, passionate kissing.

He was woken up by someone shaking him awake during the night, " _Who the fuck just woke me up"_ he angrily thought.

"Nick, wake up" a hushed voice said, he turned around to see Historia gently shaking him awake, his eyes softened at the sight of her.

"Why did you wake me up?" He groaned out, still tired from the days training.

"Well, some of us are taking part in some games, so we can get to know each other better, and I thought you should come too, so everyone can see how nice you really are"

To say he was annoyed was an understatement, he was having a great time while asleep, and someone had decided to ruin it to get to know each other better.

"What type of games?" He asked, wandering if they would be drinking.

"Reiner never said, he just had some bottles and glasses with him"

"Fine" he huffed out, "Who's playing?" He asked.

"There's Me, Reiner, Bertholdt, Eren, Connie, Sasha, Mikasa, Armin, Ymir, Jean, Marco, Mina, Emily and Annie."

"How did you get Annie to agree to this?" He wandered out loud.

"Reiner said he had his way"

He got down off his bunk and they made their way to the back corner of the bunkhouse where they had all set up.

"Nice of you to join us lover boy" Reiner teased.

"What are we playing?" he asked, avoiding Reiner's teasing.

"We're playing Truth or Dare, if you don't answer or do the dare, you have to take a shot, alright, lets get started, Connie Truth or Dare"

"Dare" the boy replied, not wanting to back down from a challenge.

"I dare you to... sniff Annie's hair"

The boy looked in Annie's direction to see her glaring at him like she was death herself, Connie, valuing his own life, took a drink instead of the dare.

"Eren, Truth or Dare." Connie asked him after downing the shot.

"Truth" the boy replied with, earning a few boos from Jean and Reiner.

"Do you have your eye on anyone?" Connie asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"What do you mean?" Eren asked, oblivious to the question asked of him.

"I mean do you have a crush on anyone", Connie clarified for him.

"I've never thought about that, I was just so dedicated to training that I never thought about it."

After a few more rounds with some people like Sasha being dared to raid the food store and Mikasa being dared to take off her scarf, which she didn't do, Eren now asked Nick the question.

"Nick, Truth or Dare"

"Truth" he said, not wanting to do anything stupid.

"Have you ever had a crush on anyone?" Eren asked, using Connie's question as he couldn't think of his own.

"Just the one girl" he simply replied with.

"Who is it" Connie interrupted with.

"Thats not how the game works Connie."

"Just you wait then" he replied with.

"Annie. Truth or Dare."

"Dare" she replied, wanting to keep the tough girl act up.

"I dare you to... kiss Reiner" he said with a smirk on his lips.

He had never seen anyone down a shot of alcohol so fast in his life, even Eren hadn't seen the drunk soldiers in Shiganshina drink that fast.

The whole corner if the room burst into laughter, partly becausd of Annie's speed at drinking the shot, and partly because of Reiner's instant rejection.

"Alright then Meier. Truth or Dare" she asked, wanting revenge on him.

"Dare" he replied with.

"I dare you to kiss your crush" she told him, trying to embarass him like he just did to her.

"I can't do that" he told the group, while making no motion to drink the shot in front of him.

"Why not?, you scared or something" she repiled, tring to agravate him.

"She's dead" he responded with, a dead look in his eyes.

There was complete silence in the room as no one, not even Ymir dared to speak, the tension only growing as the time went on.

"Alright how about a different game?" Reiner suggested.

"Okay" Nick replied, "As long as it's fun"

"Okay, how about, never have I ever, you guys know how to play." Everyone nodded their heads, at least aware of the concept f the game.

"Okay then" Reiner started, "Never have I ever... been in a street fight"

Eren, Mikasa, Reiner, Jean and Nick all drank a shot.

"Okay" Connie started" Never have I ever gotten a marking on my body"

Mikasa and Nick drank their refilled shots.

"What are your markings?" Krista asked, intrigued by it.

"Mine is a clan marking done so that we don't forget who we are" Mikasa told the group.

"What about yours Nick?" Jean asked him.

"It's a tattoo, it hadn't been done since the walls were built, until I asked for it."

"Can we see it" Armin asked, his inquisitive mind getting the better of him.

"I don't think that's a good idea Armin, it might get a bit akward once you all see it."

"C'mon, it can't be that bad" Jean stated.

"Yeah come on Nick, show us" Sasha demanded.

" _Should I show them, it would likely create a very akward atmosphere if Mikasa sees it."_

"I Think you should" Frieda stated, "There aren't a lot of Ackerman's left in the walls, you need to stick together."

" _Okay thanks Frieda"_

"No problem love"

"Okay I'll show you, but please don't make it akward"

"We wont" said Connie.

He stood up and turned around so he was facing away from them, he was still quite nervous about showing them but he shook it off and lifted his shirt off so they could all see his tattoo.

" _Is he realated to me?"_ Mikasa thought as she looked at the beautifully done tattoo on his back.

" _There's another Ackerman"_ , Annie thought, " _Looks like he's been holding back during the ODM training if Mikasa's skill is anything to go by."_

 _"I never would have guessed that him and Mikasa could have been related"_ Armin mused.

" _If he was related to her then why didn't he say anything sooner"_ Eren angrily thought while clenching his fists.

The silence created by the revelation was more than akward, to say the least, so he quickly put his shirt back on and excused himself to go back to sleep and avoid any further questions.

(The next day)

Nick was making his way to the mess hall for breakfast when he was grabbed from behing and hauled behind the mess hall.

He saw his would be attacker was Mikasa, he looked at her not knowing what to say until she broke the silence.

"We need to talk."


	12. 104th Cadet Corps : Part Eight

"We need to talk"

" _Shit, I can't deal with all this lying I've been doing, the worst part is that she will probably see right through me."_

"You could tell her the truth" Frieda sugggested.

" _That's not an option, because either she will try to actually kill me for not telling anyone about this, or she'll tell Eren, who will also try to kill me for not saying anything, especially to the scouts."_

"Well then, what are you going to do?" Frieda asked.

" _Im going to bend the truth. A lot."_

"Good luck with that love, I'll be watching."

He looked into Mikasa's eyes, even though he couldn't see any enotion in her grey orbs, he could tell she was slightly pissed at him. Probably because he didn't come to her sooner about being a relative of hers.

"Look I get it if you're angry with me for not telling you that we were related, but-"

"You think I'm angry?" She asked him, the question obviously being a rhetorical one.

"I've lost every family member I've ever had except for Eren and you think I'm angry."

"Well what do you feel then?" He asked, trying to get a read on her emotions before saying something he shouldn't.

"I'm confused, mostly about why you didn't come to me before, especially if you knew we were related." She explained to him.

"Well, I guess I was afraid at what you or Eren would say, and there's the fact that you don't particularly like me. And I know the reason is that Eren gets hurt when he trains with me, but it gets really annoying when he keeps asking for the training."

"I don't dislike you, well at least not for the reason you think, while I didn't enjoy you training with Eren, I didn't think badly of you for that because he told ne that it was what he wanted, I tried to persuade him out of it because I didn't want him to get hurt, but you know how he is."

He chuckles a little, "Yeah, he can be very stubborn at times, but why didn't you like me?"

She sighed before speaking, "It was because I was suspcious of you." She stated to him.

"What do you think I did?" He asked her.

"It's not that you did anything." She replied, confusing him a little before she continued, "It was the way you acted, you could have had everything where you came from, a loving family, high status, the furthest away from the titans as possible, great food and wealth. There was also the way you acted, like you knew things everyone else didn't and refused to share them with anyone. There's also the fact that you've never shared the real reason why you're here, your answere is always the same, that you made a promise, but no one knew what that promise is."

"I never lied about who I was or anything about my past whenever I talked to anyone about my life in the interior."

"I didn't think you did." She stated. "I just want to know what you hid from us."

"I can't tell you what you want to know Mikasa, I don't expect you to understand my reasoning, but can you at least respect it?" He pleaded with her, not willing to tell her the things he knew, not because he didn't want to, he did, but he wanted to protect her, since she was technically his family.

"Can you at least satisfy my curiosity by answering one question?" She asked him, her eyes had softened a lot since the start of the conversation.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Why was the name Ackerman persecuted in the towns and cities?" She asked.

"Do you want the short or long story?" He asked her.

"We can skip breakfast." She said, wanting the full story.

"Okay, well I guess I should start at the beginning." He took a deep breath before beginning his story. "Before the walls were constructed, the Ackerman family were an elite line of Soldiers, they were the right hand to the King at the time. But after the walls were constructed they refused to serve anymore. The King at the time feared his ability to control them, so he resulted to persecution."

"But how are we here if our family was persecuted for a hundred years?"

"Because 17 years ago, there was an assassination attempt made on the King's life by an Ackerman, but instead of executing him, the King forgave him and made him his right hand man and stopped the state sponsored persecution of the Ackerman's in the processs."

She stood still for a short while, silent, as she was processing the information that had been given to her. She was trying to decide whether it was the truth. But if the Ackerman's were an elite line of soldiers, then why wasn't he as skilled as her, she pondered for a moment before deciding to let it go for now and accept hos words as the truth.

"Thank you for telling me Nick. Oh and before I forget, do you know how closely related we are?"

"No I don't, sorry."

"It's okay, but since you are some of my only family left, I think I should warn you about Annie."

"What about her?" He asked, confused as to why Mikasa would be suspicious of her as well.

"It's the way she acts, she says she wants to join the military police to be safe, but she doesn't act the usual people who want to join the MP's."

"I know what you mean." He responded, "She doesn't act scared of titans or act self centred like Jean."

"I think she has to join the MP's" Mikasa stated.

"Why would she have to join the MP?" He asked.

"I don't know, but you should be careful around her."

"Okay I will. Thanks Mikasa."

The bell sounded, signalling the end of breakfast and the beginning of a new day of hell for the recruits.

"You want to hug it out" Nick offered, opening his arms for her.

"No thanks, maybe in the future though" she politely declined his offer with.

"Oh and Mikasa"

"Yes Nick?"

"If you don't deal with the way that Eren treats you like shit, I will."

(Later that day)

"How did it go?" Eren asked towards his raven haired adoptive sister.

"Yeah, how was it?" Armin also asked.

"We talked for a bit, and we settled out differences in favour of becoming close to each other, because it turns out we are actually related through the Ackerman name."

"But why didn't he say anything earlier?" Armin asked, confused as to why he didn't tell her when he found out.

"He said he was afraid of what me or Eren would say about it, and there was the way I acted towards him for the past year of training."

"Alright, but tell me you didn't rope him into babying me as well."

"No I didn't Eren."

" _Maybe I should ask him to help protect Eren, after all we're all practically family now."_ She thought to herself, inwardly praising Eren at giving her that brilliant idea.

(Later that day)

Mikasa was currently looking for her newly aquired relative, wanting to ask him about the potentiallity of him looking out for Eren as well as her and Armin. She was scouting the training complex, since it was lunch and she couldn't find him in the mess hall, she suspected that he was in the forest, since it was usually peaceful at this time of day.

She entered the forest, intent on finding him and ask for his help, she was so engulfed in her goal that she didn't take the time to admire the scenery around her, the wind softly blowing against the branches of the trees, the leaves also beginning to change colour at the end of summer.

Mikasa arrived at a clearing in the path, she saw Nick, asleep against the tree, but she also saw Annie, who brushed a lock of his hair to the side while she ran her fingers across his cheek.

She saw her start to lean in thinking to herself, " _Is she going to kiss him?"_ She cringed at the thoughts, knowing that Nick was also suspicious of her, she called out, "What are you doing Annie?"

The blonde froze in place, the smile on her lips replaced by a look of shock for a moment before replying to her, "Why do you care?. Ackerman."

(10 minutes earlier)

Annie had seen him going to the forest about ten minutes earlier, she had thought about confronting him about her suspicions of him holding back during the ODM training, since it was all but confirmed he was an Ackerman. She had heard stories back home about the power that these "Warriors" possessed in their blood, so it was safe to assume that he was up to something.

There was also something else about him she couldn't explain, there was a tingling sensation in her stomach whenever she looked at him, there was also the fact that whenever she saw how close he was to Krista, her heart ached a little. She had put those feelings to the side. She had no time chasing something that wouldn't work out in the end.

Another reason she put her feelings aside is that unlike the other two "Idiots" as she called them, Reiner and Berthold, she had the decency to not try and build close bonds with the people of Paradis, because when the truth got out she knew it would hut them less if she didn't get close to them.

She eventually decided against her better judgement, to follow him into the forest, she had decided to confront him and interrogate him on what he knew about the Royal Family, which she knew was a fake. She suspected that he knew who the real Royal Family were, after all, being a noble most likely meant he wasn't susceptible to the memory manipulation of the Founding Titan.

She also toyed with the thought of trying to save him fron the impending doom of Paradis, she thought that since the blood tests that Marley ran were only to determine if people were "Subjects of Ymir", that she could get away with taking him back home with her. However that idea was quickly discarded from her mind as it would likely never happen, since he would most likely resent her for what she had done, after all, the only person she could count on was her father.

She entered the clearing in the forest and saw him propped up against the tree, snoring softly every time he breathed out. His innocence brought a small smile to her face, " _He looks so innocent, like a child"_ she thought.

An idea popped into her head, she thought that since he was asleep, she could kiss him, just to see what it was like, without the potential heartbreak in the future, " _I really shouldn't, this could turn out badly if he wakes up, but fuck it."_ She thought as she brushed his hair out of the way, caressing his cheek with her fingers, she started to lean in before she heard the voice of a certain other Ackerman.

"What are you doing Annie?" She heard the oriental call out to her.

"Why do you care?. Ackerman" she spat back at her.

"Answer the question Annie. What were you doing?" She said again, her voice laced eith venom this time.

They stopped their glaring contest when they heard him wake up with a soft groan, he opened hos eyes to see Mikasa and Annie there, staring each other down.

"What are you two doing here?" He asked, unaware of the situation he was in the middle of.

"I was just leaving." Annie said before she stormed off back to camp, annoyed that she hadn't been able to feel his lips against hers even once.

"What was that about?" He asked to Mikasa after Annie was out of sight.

"I don't know" she lied, not wanting the conversation to turn akward.

"Well then why are you here Mikasa?" He asked her, curious as to why she followed him to the forest.

"I came to ask you of you would help me look out for Eren?" She blurted out.

"Does he really mean that much to you that you would ask me for help."

"Yes, he does, he's my only family left, or at least he was."

"Okay, I'll help, but I'm not going to be babying him like you usually do."

"Thank you Nick" she softly said before she walked off, happy that she had another family member she could count on.

(Later that Night)

He woke up suddenly during the night, for seemingly no reason at all, until he heard his stomach rumble, " _Well, that's what I get for skipping breakfast and lunch, I guess I'll have to sneak some food just now."_

He got out of bed, put on his pants, socks and boots and braved the cool outdoors, heading towards the food store.

When he arrived he saw someone trying to break the lock on the food store, he got closer only to see that it was Sasha, he wasn't surprised to see her here, in fact he half expected it.

"Sasha, what are you doing?" He called out in a hushed whisper shout.

Sasha jumped at the sound of the voice, but calmed down when she saw who the voice belonged to.

"Hi Nick, I was just hungry, what about you?"

"Same" was all he replied with.

"Well then, looks like we'll both go hungry, Shadis put a lock on the food store." She explained.

"Not necessarily, give me your hairclip and find me a knife."

She gave him her hairclip and handed him a knife after she found one in one of the drawers, wandering what he was going to do.

"What are you doing?" She asked, confused by his request.

"I'm going to pick the lock" he explained.

"You can do that!" She exclaimed.

"Yes, my mother thought it would be a good skill to learn, although I never thought I would use it to steal food in the cadets."

After a few failed attempts, he managed to get the door unlocked. He handed Sasha her hairpin back, as she tied up her hair, he went in to grab a few loaves of bread each for them.

"Here you go" he said as he handed her three loaves of bread.

As they exited the food store, they heard the one thing they didn't want to hear.

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING" they heard Shadis yell.

Nick, not wanting him or Sasha to be run to death by Shadis for stealing food, grabbed her arm and ran, dragging her along with him.

"GET BACK HERE" they heard Shadis yell as they were getting away from him.

Once they were sure that Shadis wouldnt find them, Sasha spoke up once again, "Will you be my food stealing buddy?" She asked him, her eyes pleading for him to say yes.

"All right, as long as Shadis doesn't catch us though, I don't want to deal with his wrath. Deal?"

"Deal" Sasha said, shaking his hand.

" _Oh god, I just told the hungriest girl on the planet I would help her steal food. What the hell is wrong with me?!"_


	13. 104th Cadet Corps : Part Nine

(Year 850)

It was a few weeks until graduation, and after the past three years of training they were being graded by the Instructors to see who would make the top ten and have the privilege of getting to join the Military Police, while the rest of the recruits in the Southern Division would have to choose between the Garrison and the Survey Corps.

It was pouring down with rain while the recruits were running through the mud, carrying their packs with their equipment, Instructor Shadis was riding on his horse, grading them on their physical abilities.

Near the back Armin was struggling to keep up with the rest of the recruits, despite the three years of training, his physical abilities were not as proficient as those near the front like Mikasa, Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie and Nick, even though Nick wasn't as good with the gear in Armins eyes, he was probably the most physically capable recruit in the cadets, but his ODM skills seemingly let him down.

"Drop the packs if you want to keep up" Shadis yelled to the back at the stragglers, "Unless you want to be titan chow that is."

Armin mentally sighed, he was struggling a lot with the weight they had to carry, but then the weight was lifted off the shoulders as he saw Reiner take the pack off his back to carry two at the same time.

"We're being graded on this, just so you know" Reiner told him as if Armin wasn't aware he was being graded.

"But you'll be deducted points if you're caught carrying my pack!" Armin exclaimed.

"Just try to keep up alright." Reiner told him, trying to help him out.

Suddenly Armin gained a second wind as he tore his pack off of Reiner's shoulder while crying out, "I'm no ones burden!", after he said this he sped up to catch up with the recruits in the middle of the formation.

His sudden burst of energy and his sheer will to not be a burden to his comrades surprised both Reiner and Shadis who was keeping an eye on them, to see how they would handle the situation.

" _Reiner Braun"_ Shadis thought, " _He's as strong as an Ox, and has the will to match. But more than anything, he's earned the trust of his comrades."_

 _"Armin Arlert"_ He moved his thoughts onto the small blonde now, " _When it comes to physical strength, he doesn't measure up to soldier standards. But I hear that in the classrom lectures, he's shown extraordinary imagination."_

With that Shadis rode ahead to evaluate some of the other recruits on their physical capabilities.

He reached the front of the group where there were three recruits who were a few yards ahead of the ones behind them.

" _Annie Leonhart, While she does not possess much natural strength, the past three years of training have given her the strength required to keep up with the recruits who are naturally strong."_

 _"Mikasa Ackerman, her physical abilities are unparalleled by most in the class, she seems to have the body required for endurance exercises or heavy lifting if required."_

 _"Nicholas Meier, My first thoughts on him were that he would be some puny kid from the interior, however his physical prowess surpasses everyone in the 104th cadet corps. His endurance and strength makes him almost the perfect example of a soldier in training."_

The cadets had now moved on to being graded on their capabilities with the Omni-directional Manoeuvre Gear.

One of the Instructors pulled on a rope that brought up a wooden titan from the ground, placing it into the path of the oncoming recruits.

Three of the recruits quickly changed directions and went to slash at the nape of the wooden titan, Annie slashed first, cutting the nape all the way through. Bertholdt was after the blonde, his slash on the nape also reaching the base of the neck, a killing blow for both of them.

The third recruit, Jean, however only cut about halfway through the nape.

Shadis watched the three recruits intently, taking notes on his clipboard. " _Annie Leonhart,_ _The angle of approach of her slashing attack is impeccable...she carves deeply into the target. Personality-wise, she tends to be a loner and has trouble cooperating."_

 _"Bertholdt Hoover,_ _He's mastered every single skill that's been taught...and I believe he has a lot of potential...but he lacks drive and tends to leave decisions to others."_

" _Jean Kirstein, He has a deep understanding of the vertical maneuvering equipment and excels at exploiting that skill...he can also take in a situation at a moment's glance, but his personality is like a drawn sword, which tends to create conflict."_

Shadis wrote down his notes on the three before turning his attention to two more recruits who had followed Jean to the bext target, both of them slashing the nape before he could.

" _Connie Springer,_ _He has a fine sense of balance and is effective at vertical maneuvering. However, he's got a slow mind and often makes strategic mistakes."_

He then turned his attention to the red haired girl alongside Connie, who he suspected to be stealing from the food store, although he couldn't prove it, he suspected it was her, however he didn't know who her partner in crime could be.

" _Sasha Blouse,_ _She moves quickly and has remarkable instincts...but she has issues with structure, making her ill-suited for organized activity."_

He finished his note taking on his favourite recruits, as their friends liked to refer to them as, mostly because Shadis would have a field day punishing them if he caught them slacking off.

He then turned his attention to the next three recruits going for the next wooden titan that had been raised by one of his assistants.

Mikasa was the first to swoop down and slash at the nape, cutting it perfectly. Eren was next to cut at the nape if the wooden titan, however similar to Jean, he didn't cut deep enough to kill the titan. The last to make a slash at the nape was Nick, he swung at the nape, intentionally not cutting deep enough to kill.

Shadis was still perched above them, thoroughly taking down notes on each of them.

" _Mikasa Ackerman,_ _She's mastered every single difficult subject perfectly. Her talent is historically unprecedented, making her the most valuable of them all_."

" _Eren Yeager,_ _Though proficient at barehanded fighting, he doesn't seem to have any other skills...but he possesses a sense of purpose that's twice as strong as anyone else's. Through constant effort, his grades have improved steadily_."

" _Nicholas Meier, while physically he is no doubt the best in the class, he is lacking in his ODM skills, his swings are clunky and too wide apart to do any real damage, however he seems to make no effort to improve upon these mistakes of his. Also the lecture Commandant tells me that in the classroom, his pure intelligence and quick thinking also rivals Arlert's own intelligence. These factors lead me to believe that he either doesn't want to improve, or he isn't making use of his skills in training."_

(Later that day)

The recruits now had some combat training after being graded earlier on in the day, their combat scores didn't really count towards their final grades, so some didn't take it seriously, mainly Connie and Sasha, who were goofing off. However Krista as she liked to be called in public by Nick, requested that he show her some moves, in the event that she would need to defend herself. He agreed, thinking that it would be a good idea for her to learn some moves of his.

Ymir however, was heavily against the idea, stating that she "could get hurt by lover boy", Krista waved off her concerns, saying that he wouldn't hurt her intentionally. Ymir reluctantly agreed, but not after whispering a few threats in his ear, he wasn't afraid of the brunette, but he didn't want to deal with an angry Ymir, or even Reiner if Krista got hurt.

There was also the fact that her half sister was in his head, so while he was teaching her he was receiving constant reminders to be careful with how hard he hit.

"Remember love, be careful when you're teaching her." Frieda told him, for the sixth time.

" _Frieda, usually I wouldn't get tired of hearing your voice, but you're starting to annoy me now."_ He told her, getting irritated at her constant reminders to be careful with Historia.

"Right sorry love, but be careful with her, please." She pleaded to him, giving him the puppy dog eyes.

" _Fine"_ he sighed inwardly, " _But don't distract me or one of us could get hurt."_

He walked over to where Krista was waiting so they could get started on their training.

"You ready to learn Krista?" He asked her, giving her the hint that she didn't have to take lessons from him.

"Yes Nick, let's start." She told him.

Nick showed her the basics of his technique for taking down larger opponents, since she was less than five foot tall. He showed her the proper stance to take while he moved her arms and legs if they weren't in the correct position. He showed her the correct way to kick at an opponent, using her foot if she was going to hit a bone, or her shin if she was going for flesh instead of bone.

"Alright Krista, I want you to try and take me down, I won't go on the offensive, I'll stay defensive to let you attack me, okay?."

She didn't reply but lunged forward, aiming a punch at his ribs, he sidestepped and she went flying past him and went off balance due to the evasion.

"Don't throw everything into your attack unless you're sure the blow will land." He told her.

She looked determined to take him down now, she came at him again, faking a left hook so she could take him down with one of the throws he had showed her. She threw the fake punch, he moved his forearm to block it, she wrapped her arms under his right arm and left leg to throw him. But it didn't work, he used her momentum to lean backwards and lift her up over his head, as she landed he spoke.

"That was very good actually, if it was any other opponent it would have worked, but I had to improvise to counter it."

She was happy that she had earned his praise for something he was an expert at.

"I want to try again Nick." She told him, spurred on by his praise, she was going to beat him, she told herself.

Right before she came at him, his attention was drawn to something happening over her shoulder, Frieda was blowing kisses at him.

" _What are you doing Frieda?, You said you wouldn't interrupt our training."_ He asked her, wandering what she was up to.

"What?, can't a girl blow kisses to her boyfriend." She teased.

" _No you can"_ he quickly replied, " _It's just that-"_

He noticed that he was being thrown over someones shoulder, and he couldn't stop it, he could only brace for the impact.

Once he hit the floor he noticed that Krista was standing over him, a wide smile plastered on her face, he could tell this was a genuine one, unlike the forced onces she usually put on to appease the others at the cadets.

"How was that?" She asked, proud of what she had done.

"That was very good Krista, I'm actually surprised you have the strength to throw me like that." He commented, impressed by her strength.

"Here" she said as she offered him a hand to pull him back up, he grabbed her hand but pulled too hard when trying to get up, so instead of getting up, he accidentally pulled her down on top of him.

"Sorry!" She quickly exclaimed, her cheeks had turned a bright red after she had fallen on top of him. She scrambled to her feet just as Ymir managed to stomp her way over.

"What did you do to Krista lover boy?" She asked him, the jealousy in her voice was quite evident.

"He didn't do anything Ymir, I just tripped and fell on him." Krista told her angry and clearly jealous friend, giving her a smile to tell her everything was ok.

"Whatever" Ymir grumbled.

Suddenly the three of them noticed Reiner being thrown through the air like a sack of potatoes, he flew across the training grounds towards where Annie had Eren locked on the ground in a chokehold. Annie noticed Reiner at the last second and quickly moved out of the way so Reiner landed directly on top of Eren.

" _Must have been Mikasa"_ Nick thought to himself.

And he was right, because Mikasa was walking towards Annie, looking like she wanted to kill her on the spot for hurting Eren. Nick had half a mind to step in and stop Mikasa before she did something stupid, but he quickly decided against it when Annie raised her fists to accept Mikasa's challenge.

"Who do you think will win?" One of the cadets called out.

"Annie" Marco said, only to be interrupted by Jean.

"What?, are you crazy?, I'll bet my whole dinner on Mikasa!" He shouted out, clearly having faith that his crush would beat Annie.

"What about you lover boy, who do you think will win?" Ymir asked him, clearly acting bored about the situation.

"Its hard to say, Mikasa has the raw power to defeat any opponent, but then again, Annie has the skills required to be a match for anybody. I think it's too close to call."

"Dude, you think too much." Connie told him. Eager to watch the fight about to happen between the two toughest females in camp.

"At least I do think" he muttered to himself.

"Nick!" Krista exclaimed, "Don't be mean to him, just because he's not as smart as you or Armin, doesn't mean you can make fun of him."

"Yes Krista" he grumbled out, unhappy that she scolded him like that.

" _Oh and before I forget, I know what you did Frieda."_

"And what did I do love?" She asked, trying to play innocent with him.

" _You distracted me so Historia could beat me earlier on."_ He further explained to her, knowing she was playing innocent.

"Maybe I just wanted to give you some affection, did you think about that?"

" _Yes I did, and you usually show most of your affection at night."_ He flirted.

"Oh, is that so?" She questioned, "Maybe I'll have to show you some affection tonight" she told him.

"-ck. Nick" he felt someone tug his jacket, he looked and saw Krista tugging on his jacket and talking to him.

"C'mon Nick, the bell went, it's time for dinner." She told him as she and Ymir walked off to the mess hall for their evening meal.

(During Dinner)

He was sitting at a table with Jean, Marco and a few others, since he didn't want to go near Mikasa after how she reacted after watching Annie spar with Eren earlier in the day. Jean was telling Marco about some way to conserve gas when using the ODM gear. He already knew about Jean's "secret technique" since he had told Krista about it a few weeks back, in an attempt to have her rise up the ranks even more.

"That's still pretty advanced." Marco told Jean, wondering how Jean learned about this.

However, this only caused Jean's massive ego to grow even larger. "It's called having a sixth sense for the innards of the gear. The MP only recruit the best trainees after all."

Marco sighed happily, "Man, that would be great. Working so close to the King. No greater honour than that."

"Hey Marco, you can drop the misty-eyed BS" Jean told him.

His eyes widened in shock, "Huh?"

"Honour doesn't play any part does it?, you just want a nice cushy job in the interior playing glorified sentry."

Marco however, was shocked at Jean's allegations. "That's not true at all!" He exclaimed.

Of course whenever the word MP was mentioned, Eren had to but into the conversation. "Listen to yourselves. Interior. Five years ago this was part of it."

"You got a point to make friend?" Jean questioned him. "I'm right here"

Eren chuckled as he set his drink down. "Poor Jean, so misguided. And besides... I don't think your head would fit in the interior."

A few laughs could be heard around the room at that comment.

"Very funny" Jean said, clearly not amused.

"Seems a little backwards to me. Fine-tuning your Titan-killing skills so the brass will station you somewhere you'll never see one."

"You'd rather I was good at getting killed?" Jean retorted. "Thank you, but I'll pass. Better to play the system than get gnawed on."

"You son of a bitch!" Eren shouted, getting up.

"Bring it on, you little bastard!" Jean taunted, meeting him halfway.

"Eren, please stop it," Armin pleaded as Eren grabbed a hold of Jean's shirt.

"Would you two quit it before Shadis hears you" Nick said as he got up to break the two of them up.

"I don't need your help!" Eren exclaimed, getting angry that someone else had to step in to take care of his problems.

He pushed Jean away from Eren as he grabbed his shirt with both hands, "Yes you do, you get angry at the mention of the word MP, what do you think is gonna happen if you see someone get eaten."

"I'll avenge them" Eren told him, seemingly proud of his answer.

Instead he was slammed against the table, Mikasa stood up only to have Armin hold her back before she did something stupid.

"At what cost though?, your other comrades could die because of your stupid quest for vengence."

Eren remained quiet, knowing that Nick was right about his attitude, his sheer stubbornness would surely get people killed in the future if he wasn't careful.

After that Nick left the mess hall so he could go to bed and get some of the "affection" that Frieda had told him about.

(2 weeks later, Royal Palace, Mitras)

"Sir!"A man exclaimed as he burst into one of the conference rooms in the Palace.

"Yes what is it?" The man in the room spoke, his voice hoarse, probably because of how he spent his nights.

"The results for the top ten southern division recruits have arrived" he said while handing over the document.

The man took a few seconds to read over the document he had been given. "His name isn't here." He said.

"Who's name Sir?" The messenger asked.

"That can't be right" the man was talking to himself now, "His bloodline makes sure that he was the best there was there, but how could this happen."

"What does his bloodline have to do with anything Sir?" The messenger asked, once again the man ignored him.

"What the hell is that boy up to?" He asked to himself.

"Sir, what does his blood have to do with this?" The messenger asked for a second time.

"He has the blood of an Ackerman inside of him, but that's not all."

The messengers eyes widened in horror. "But weren't the Ackerman's persecuted Sir?"

"They were until Uri Reiss put a stop to it" he told him.

"Wait, you said that wasn't all, what else is there?" The messenger asked, getting a bit frightened now.

The man sighed before speaking, "When the blood of an Ackerman is mixed with the blood of certain non Eldian races, they become either more powerful, more intelligent or more bold than usual."

"What blood is his mixed with?" The messenger asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

"It's the worst possible mixture for us, the blood of his father means that he has all three of these traits locked away until he unlocks them."

"How would he gain these traits?" He asked.

"By going through different traumatic experiences" the man explained. "He's already been through the one that awakened his powers in the first place, but I fear that when he slaughtered the kidnappers during that training exercise, he gained his first of these three traits."

"Wait a minute, what kind of blood does his father have?"

The man sighed again. "It's a complete nightmare for us if he decides to turn his back on us, but his father has Marleyan blood in his veins."


	14. The Struggle for Trost : Part One

Three years. It had been three years since he had joined the Cadet Corps so he could fulfill the promise he made to Frieda. That humanity would be free from these walls, just like she wanted before she inherited the will of King Fritz. Three years since he had made his first official friend, Annie Leonhart. Two years since he had felt the power surging through his veins for the second time when he saved Historia from those kidnappers in the woods.

Two years since he told Historia that he saw through her fake personality and offered his support to her by helping her to make the top ten. Two years since Mikasa found out that they were related and accepted him into her inner circle with Eren and Armin.

And now after their training had officially ended they had been stationed with the Garrison for a week before they chose which regiment to join. Most of the recruits like Eren were watching the departure of the Scouts on the 56th Expedition. However Sasha and her food stealing buddy Nick were sneaking about the officers quarters in search of some meat.

"Sasha" he whispered, "Do you realise you could be arrested for this?" Quite dumbfounded at the girls stupidity when it came to food.

"What do you mean me?, you're helping me." She stated.

"Yes, but unlike me, you're not from a noble family. Even if they did arrest me the Interior MP would release me." He told her, explaining the situation better to her.

"Aha!, we're here!" She exclaimed, some drool coming from her mouth as they reached the food store.

"Okay then, give me your hairpin"

She handed him her hairpin as he removed a knife from his left boot and began to pick the lock of the food store. "Sasha at least keep a look out instead of drooling on my shoulder." He told her, the drool slowly dripping onto his right shoulder.

"Sorry!" She exclaimed, wiping her chin with her sleeve.

After about ninety seconds of Sasha complaining about him being too slow at picking the lock, it finally clicked, he slid the lock off and Sasha was inside the store within seconds, seeking the meat she craved.

"Sasha, be quiet" He hissed, she was making too much noise inside the food store now, someone was bound to hear.

"Eeek!" Came a sound from inside the room, "I found it!" She exclaimed as she burst back through the door, drool now clearly coming down from her mouth.

"What was that noise?" A voice came from down the corridor.

" _Shit, we need to hide"_ Nick thought as he quickly pulled Sasha out ofthe doorway, he quickly closed the door and slid the lock back on the door. He quickly scanned the room for a way out. There was none.

Sasha was shaking in fear of getting caught, they had never been caught before and she was naive to think they would never be caught.

She was pulled from her thoughts as Nick grabbed her arm and yanked her under the desk in the room, his palm dragging over the meat in the process. Once they were under the table he put his hand over Sasha's mouth to keep her from making noise.

The door creaked open and a pair of boots could be heard rapping against the wooden floor until they reached the carpet.

"Captain Weilmann, you're needed down at the supply depot." A female voice called out. "Sir?" The voice called again.

"Yes I heard you Rico, I thought I heard some noise in here." Captain Weilmann replied.

"You think someone was in here?" She asked.

"Nothing seems out of place, and the lock is still on the food store. Perhaps it was my imagination."

Under the table Nick was having a very hard time not shouting at Sasha for what she was doing. He deduced that since his hand brushed over the meat it would taste like it, he didn't expect that Sasha would start licking his hand just to taste the meat. Especially since Captain Weilmann was about three feet away from them.

"Let's go Rico" He said as the sounds of footsteps got further away until the door shut.

"What the fuck Sasha!" He whisper shouted, "Why the fuck did you lick my hand!?"

"It tasted like meat" she protested. "It would be a shame for that to go to waste.

He purposefully wiped his hand on her hair as he handed back her hairclip so she could tie her hair up into her ponytail again.

"If you lick me again without my expressed permission, you will taste my boot down your throat. Understand" he said while glaring at her.

She quickly nodded, not wanting to anger him anymore.

"Expressed Permision" Frieda echoed his words, "What does that mean?" She asked.

" _Not here Frieda, at least wait until we have escaped the vicinity of this hangable offence we have just committed."_

They managed to sneak out quite easily as they then made their way to the top of the gate where Sasha was assigned. Nick was assigned to cannon duty a couple hundred mertes away, but the Officer in charge didn't seem to care when he snuck off with Sasha.

"Guys look what I got." She said as she approached them, the meat in her hand on show for everyone to see.

"Sasha, you could be hanged for that!" Eren exclaimed, shocked by her sheer stupidity.

"It's alright, I'll just get my food stealing buddy here to get me out." She told them as she slumg an arm over Nick's shoulder.

"Really?" Mina said, "I thought you were supposedly smart Nick."

"We've never been caught" he replied with.

"Wait, how long have you two been doing this." Thomas asked.

"About two years" Sasha proudly told the rest of them.

"But... how have you never been caught, when Sasha asked me we got caught the first time." Connie told them.

"Because unlike you Connie, I have the skills required to seal food effectively."

"Yeah, but at least I made the top ten Nick."

"Yeah but Connie, you said you were joining the Scouts." Eren pointed out. "So it doesn't really matter."

"Really?" Nick asked, "If it makes you feel better, I'm joining the Scouts as well."

"Was it Eren's speech that convinced you?" Mina asked him, trying to keep her surprise down.

"No, because I was already convinced that the only way we can achieve freedom, is by fighting back against the titans." He said before continuing. "Alright, well I better get back before someone who cares if we slack off turns up at my station"

He turned around to walk back to where he was stationed when there was a flash and an explosion originating from outside the wall. He turned around to see the Colossal Titan standing there, about 30 feet away from him. He got over the initial shock quickly to pull a blade from his left blade box and into his right handle before he was blown off the wall by a massive gust of steam.

He saw the others being blown off the wall as he shot off hir right hook to anchor himself into the wall.

"Someone grab Samuel" Eren shouted.

He could see Samuel falling down below, he looked unconscious, in a few seconds he would become paste on the ground unless someone got to him. He then saw Sasha fire her hook into his calf, saving his life in the process.

"Sasha" Nick shouted at her. "Take Samuel to headquarters and inform them of the situation, someone go with her to make sure she gets there. Eren help me with the Colossal Titan. It cannot be allowed to escape." After that Sasha and Thomas went back to HQ with Samuel still unconscious.

Nick then unsheathed a second blade to his left handle and shot is left hook up the wall so he could get up the wall faster than using both hooks for one swing.

Eren followed him up the wall as they both landed gracefully on top of the wall. The Colossal Titan sweeped his arm across the wall, taking out the cannons on the wall.

"It's intelligent, It knew to take out the cannons." Eren called out.

" _No shit Eren. I wonder who this is though?"_ He thought to himself as he shot his hooks into the arm of the Colossal Titan. He managed to get a deep slash on his wrist, making his right hand useless for combat.

"Eren, circle around to the nape while I distract him." He shouted once again.

"Hey ugly, why don't you pick on someone your own size." He called out.

The Colossal Titan moved his gaze to the soldier on the wall, waving at him. The Titan brought his left hand up to squish him before he did any more damage to his form. Nick dodged, flying off to the side, the Titan used this monent to lift it's foot and kick a hole in the gate, now allowing titans to enter the District.

" _Shit, my distraction didn't work, whoever it is isn't stupid."_ He was about to fire his hooks into its face so he could slash its eyes so Eren could take it down, but it released an intense volley of steam, causing him to fall off the wall again. The steam attack was very hot, almost to the point of burns, but he wasn't exposed long enough for it to have an effect on him.

After a few seconds the steam stopped completely as he shot his hooks back up the wall to get back on top. He arrived to see that Eren was standing there and that the Colossal Titan had disappeared, he looked around to see what looked like someone scaling the wall from the outside to get back in. The figure was too far away to tell either who it was or which branch they belonged to.

" _That must be him, he's in the military, that's not surprising given how long they've been inactive for."_

"Hey did you guys get him" Connie asked, now having scaled the wall with Mina in tow.

"No, it disappeared. Just like five years ago" Eren grimaced. "I'm sorry guys, it's my fault it got away."

"Don't apologise" Connie interjected. "We were too scared to move after all."

"Hey you four!" A garrison officer called out to them. "What happened to the Colossal Titan?"

"It disappeared like it fid five years ago Sir" Eren replied.

"Right then. Return to HQ to refuel. As of now Operation Colossal Titan is in effect."

"Yes Sir" The four cadets replied before speeding off towards HQ to recieve their orders for the evacuation.

(Trost District HQ)

The four of them arrived relatively quickly at the HQ just in time to be able to refuel before they were sent back out there to assist with the evacuation by holding the lines against the titans invading the city.

He was refilling his gas at the supply station when he heard a pair if boots coming his way, he looked up to see Krista marching towards him, surprisingly she looked angry.

Once she reached him she used all her strength to slap him across his face, leaving a small, but bright red hand print across his left cheek. The impact of the slap caused some of the nearby soldiers to turn their heads, only to see the small blonde cadet throw herself at him, hugging him tightly.

"I was so worried when you left with Sasha earlier, and then when the Colossal Titan appeared you hadn't shown up and I assumed the worst."

"Did you really have to slap me?" He asked her while rubbing his cheek, still sore from the impact.

"Sorry" she apologised. "I don't know what came over me."

"It's okay Krista" he then leaned in to her ear to whisper. "I like seeing the real you better anyway."

"But seriously I'm fine, I just need to refuel then we can go, alright." He continued with.

"Right, I'll wait for you until then." She offered, still scolding herself for losing control of her emotions and slapping him. She didn't mean for it to go that far, but he was the only person who understood her apart from Ymir. So if he died, she didn't know what she would do.

"Okay, I'm set. Let's go." He told her as they reached the assembly area in the courtyard. Where Daz was throwing up at the mere thought of having to fight the titans. Krista immediately went to his aid, while waiting for someone to issue them orders.

"ATTENTION" Captain Weilmann called out to the recruits. "As you know the Outer gate has been breached by the Colossal Titan. And what's more is that the Advantage Team has been wiped out. Yes that's right, the Outer gate is history. That means that the Armoured Titan will likely show up, and when it does the Inner gate will be history too." This statement caused the crowd of cadets gathered to begin panicking at the thought.

" _What kind of speech is this?, he's supposed to motivate us to fight, not to abandon our posts."_ Nick thought.

"QUIET" He yelled out, silencing the recruits. "You will split up into your squads that were assigned to you. The Garisdon will take up the Vanguard. The cadets will form the Middle-Guard. And the Elites will assist with the evacuation in the Rear-Guard. Any attempts to desert your post will result in your swift execution. Lay down your lives if you must. The citizens must be allowed to escape." He paused for a moment before saluting. "Offer your hearts cadets."

The cadets returned the salute. "Sir yes Sir"

"Dismissed" he yelled out.

Nick left the formation to go find the rest of the five man squad he was assigned to. He managed to spot the four of them gathered around near the entrance to the HQ.

"Hey guys, Im here." He called out.

"All right that's all of us." Sasha said, "Why don't we introduce ourselves. I'm Sasha Blouse, I ranked ninth in training."

"Emily Schön, I ranked sixteenth."

"Franz Kefka, rank twenty two."

"Hannah Diamant, rank twenty eight."

"Nick Meier, rank thirty nine."

"All right, I was made squad leader" Sasha announced, "So lets go and kill some titans to assist with the evacuation okay."

The rest agreed with the plan, they took off towards the rooftops where Nick suggested they run to conserve their gas.

Sasha agreed, knowing how smart he was and they were now coming up with a strategy to take on the titans.

"How should we take them on?" Hannah asked Sasha.

"We should stay here and hold the line" Franz suggested.

"No" Emily disagreed, "We should seek them out so we assist the others as much as possible."

"But we could die easier doing that" Franz protested.

"Better than sitting about doing nothing until they get here." Emily retorted.

"What do you think Nick?" Sasha asked him, wanting his opinion on the matter.

"I think we should have two of us lead titans to this position while the other three strike the napes from the rooftops." He told her.

"You want to use us as bait?" Franz asked.

"I'll be the bait, since I was the lowest ranked." Nick said as he took off, attempting to lead titans to the area.

"I'll go with him" Emily announced as she went to follow him.

"Looks like its us slashing the napes then." Hannah said.

"Okay, lets do it." Sasha said.

(35 minutes later)

The five of them had been taking turns at being bait for the titans, there had been a few close calls such as when Emily got grabbed while trying to lead two titans to the three waiting to strike the napes. This resulted in Nick coming to her rescue as she was about to be munched on by two 15 metre classes. After he had shown the skill that he possessed to save her, she questioned how he wasn't in the top ten as even Mikasa couldn't move that fast with the gear. He waved it off as a rush of adrenaline, but she was skeptical of that response.

It was now Franz and Hannah leading the titans towards Nick, Sasha and Emily. They were leading a five metre and twelve metre when another titan jumped up at Franz, attempting to grab him. He avoided the titan by releasing a burst of gas, but he lost control and went over the roof of the buildings and into the wall of the next street over.

Hannah saw this and went straight after him, completely ignoring the five metre following her.

"Franz" she called out. "Franz get up". She was starting to cry now, as the realisation struck her that he could be dead. She checked for a heartbeat when she landed only to be horrified that there wasn't one. She began to administer CPR, while she cried her eyes out, refusing to give up on him. However she was so focused on trying to resuscitate him that she didnt notice the five metre reaching out for her from behind.

(300 metres away)

It was raining now, the blood in the streets now being washed away by water falling from the sky. His hair was now soaked, but the rain was helping to cool him down after all the work he had been doing.

"They should have been here by now" Sasha said, starting to get worried about Franz and Hannah.

"I'm starting to get worried as well, surely they should have found a titan by now" Emily said to the group. "I'm going to look for them" She announced as she took off in the direction they left in.

"Emily wait!" Sasha cried out, "Come on Nick, after her." She ordered him as she set off as well. He followed shortly after he checked his tanks for his gas usage.

He swung after Sasha, who was frantically looking around for Emily. They were looking around until they heard a scream coming from the adjacent street.

"That was Emily!" Sasha called out, "We need to help her" she shouted as she went over the rooftop to help her.

Nick followed her lead as he went over the rooftop after her. Once he got over the roof he could see three titans, one five metre feasting on the lower half of Hannah, one twelve metre with a pair of legs sticking out from it's mouth, he could guess it was Franz by the size of the legs.

In the mouth of a seven metre was Emily, the titan had her midsection in its teeth as it bit down, her screaming in agony. At the sight of Emily being eaten, he had flashbacks to her sisters death on the evacuation boat on this day five years ago.

" _No. Not again"_ he thought, " _I can't lose her, not after what happened to Ella"._ He shot his hook into the shoulder of the seven metre, he pulled the trigger to reel hinself in as he tore a huge chunk of flesh out of the titans nape. The titan dropped Emily onto the ground after its jaw loosened after it died.

"Sasha, grab her and get to the roof, I'll deal with these two." He called out. Sasha wanted to protest, but she could see the anger radiating off of him, she knew not to mess with him when he was angry. So reluctantly she picked up Emily and took her to the nearest roof and put pressure on her wound to try and stop the bleeding.

He landed on the wall next to the dead titan as he bent his knees and shot another hook into the twelve metre, using his momentum to gain more speed and easliy slash through the nape with great precision. After that he shot his hook into the side of the building to launch himself into the air, he twisted in mid air and fired his hook into the nape of the five metre still eating Hannah's remains, he used a burst of gas to increase his speed in the downward spiral as he sliced through the nape and firing himself onto the roof with Sasha and Emily in the process.

"How is she?" He nervously asked when he put his blades away.

Sasha was crying now. "The bleeding won't stop Nick, I can't do anything." Her blood was spilling onto the roof, but the rainfall was washing it away as more came out of her body.

Nick was now on the verge of tears now, it was happening all over again. He thought that he could make amends for Ella's death when her sister walked into his life over three years ago, but now he could only think of himself as the same weak child that got his friends killed during the fall.

"Nick" Emily croaked out, blood on her lips now.

"I'm sorry Emily, I'm so, so sorry." He apologised.

"Don't apologise" she groaned out. "You might be smart, but I'm surprised you never noticed." She smiled softly as she spoke.

"Noticed what?" He asked, leaning down so he could hear her better.

She didn't say anything she only leaned up to him to plant a short kiss on his lips, smearing blood on his upper lip in the process.

"You... You" was all he could say as he turned a little bit red.

"I like you... a lot" she managed to say while struggling a lot with the pain.

" _Frieda, please forgive me for this, I only want to make her last moments better for her."_

"What do you mean love, wait what are you-" was all Frieda managed to say as she watched Nick kiss Emily.

After speaking to Frieda with his thoughts he leaned down to kiss Emily on the lips once again, he grabbed the back of her head to press her blood soaked lips against his even harder. After comprehending that her crush for the past three years had kissed her, she started to move her lips against his, she was using all the strength she had left to put into the kiss.

Sasha watched fron the side, still crying over the death of Franz, Hannah and the impending death of Emily.

He pulled away from the kiss, their lips still connected by saliva mixed with blood.

"Thank you Nick." Her voice was getting weaker by the second.

He didn't respond to her thanks, he just stayed like he was, kneeling down with her head in his hands, the tears flowing down his face now as the life slowly faded out of her body. She had closed her eyes and her body went limp, she was unresponsive to his touch, signalling that Emily, much like Ella, had died in his arms.

Slowly he laid her head on the roof, and stood up. "Sasha" he spoke, all the emotion gone from his voice. "We need to regroup with the other squads now. You go on ahead, I'll be right behind you."

With a simple nod of her head she took off, trying to regroup with the nearest squad. But he had just lied to her, he wasn't going to be behind her, because he felt like the same weak child from all those years ago. He felt as if he could have prevented this from happening, if only he hadn't held back when the Instructors were grading him. Maybe he wouldn't have been in this squad, then he wouldn't have come up with this strategy and gotten everyone apart from Sasha killed. Then maybe he wouldn't feel like he was worthless and wouldn't want to give up like he was doing now.

He sat still on the rooftop, next to the soaking body of Emily, waiting for a titan to come along and finish him off before he did it himself. " _This way, if I get eaten, then maybe people will think I died a noble death."_ He bitterly thought to himself as out of the corner of his eye, he could see a fifteen metre class reaching out to grab him.


	15. The Struggle for Trost : Part Two

The rain was still coming down in Trost, bouncing lightly off the rooftops and streets when the small drops of water landed. The blood on his uniform jacket being washed out while he sat on the roof next to the body of Emily Schön, waiting for the end. He had given up, the grief of losing his comrades was too much for him to handle after bottling up his grief at the deaths of his six friends five years ago.

He sat completely still, not batting an eye when he saw the hand of a fifteen metre reaching out for him, he just stared blankly at the hand, silently wishing it would hurry up and end his misery.

Frieda on the other hand couldn't believe what she was seeing, the boy, if she could still call him that, who promised that he would give freedom to the people of the walls like she wanted before the succession ceremony. The boy that she had spent almost five years with after she transferred her consciousness into his mind. The boy who could have had any girl during his time in the military aside from Mikasa, but he chose her, even though she was dead, he still chose her. So in her mind it was clear what she had to do. She had to give him a reason to keep fighting.

"Nick! Nick! What are you doing? You need to fight back" she called out, as the titan wrapped it's massive hand around him.

He didn't respond to her shouts, he just kept his blank face, with the dead look in his eyes.

"Nick! Don't give up!" She shouted, trying to get his attention.

It was no use, as the titan put him in it's mouth and closed it, swallowing him whole.

Once the titan let him go he slid down it's wet and hot tongue and down it's throat into it's stomach. Luckily titans don't have a digestive tract, otherwise he would have been dead. The air in the stomach of the titan was foul and hot, it was causing him to sweat on the way down to it's gullet.

Once he reached the bottom he found it extremely hard to breathe because of the heat of the air inside the stomach of the titan. He was also soaked in a watery substance that was mixed in with the blood of the humans the titan had eaten.

" _This is disgusting"_ He thought to himself. " _I should have just stabbed myself instead."_ He grimly thought.

"Nick!" He heard Frieda speak again, but it was different this time. She sounded angry, very angry. Not like the time she had called humans "sinners" when he asked if she was going to free the people of the walls. No, this was her own genuine anger and he would be lying if he wasn't at least a bit scared.

"Nicholas Meier." She spoke once again. He knew she was furious now, because she never used his full name.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" She was absolutely livid now, he could feel her anger bubbling inside him as he saw her face. She was not happy at all.

"What's the point" he weakly responded. "I'm still weak. I can't change anything." He told her, believing what he said.

"Excuse me? Who the fuck are you?, and what the fuck have you done with my Nick?" She asked him, sounding very offended at his response to her.

"What do you mean" he weakly asked, the heat from the titan causing his sweat to mix with the blood in the stomach of the titan.

"What happened to the boy that promised me that he would free these people? Huh?. What happened to the boy who thought he could take on all the titans?. What happened to the man that I love? Huh?" She was getting desperate in her attempts to motivate him now.

He didn't answer her, instead he looked down so he didn't have to look her in the eyes, he didn't want to hurt her anymore.

"Look at me Nick" She said, her voice quite commanding.

He didn't look up, instead he pulled his knees into his chest to avoid her more.

"Nick" she spoke a lot softer this time. "Nick, please look at me."

He slowly lifted his head to meet her eyes, expecting them to be full of anger, but instead she had one of the most caring looks he had ever seen on her face.

"Nick... Do you love me?" She asked. To which he nodded in response. "And you feel like you are weak and can't handle this anymore?" She asked him. He took a little longer before slowly nodding again.

"Nick, if you die here then how will you be able to remember me?" She asked him, trying one last time to motivate him to fight.

"I... I... I won't be able to" he suddenly realised.

"If you die... how will you remember the joy you felt being with me, of me just being around, of all those nights we spent together while you were asleep. What about the pure happiness on your face when I told you that I loved you, that it wasn't just a one way thing. That I felt the same way you felt?" She asked him, feeling that he needed one last push, she spoke again. "The truth is you won't remember me if you die, but if you fight, you can live, and if you live you will remember me, and I will always be here for you Nick, because I love you and I don't want you to die." She finally managed to get out.

He sat there for a moment, lost in his own thoughts at what she said. "You're right" he suddenly spoke. "I will only remember you if I live. And to live, I need to fight." He said as he stood up, the dead look in his eyes replaced by determination to get out of this titan.

He then pulled his right handle out and attached a blade to it, he then plunged it into the stonach of the titan to see how far he would have to cut to get out. The blade got about five inches into the flesh before it became easier to push it, signalling to him that it went through completely. "Okay, about five inches, thats just like striking at the nape. Only with no speed, and hardly any room to swing. Great." He said out loud as he attached a blade to his other handle, prepared to slice at the titans stomach.

He got into position, ready to slice, he brought the blades downwards in an oval pattern so it would cut a hole in the flesh for him to escape. After he cut the flesh he swung his boot at the flesh, knocking it out of the way, allowing him to grapple out of the titans stomach.

Once he got out, he noticed how cool the air was outside compared to inside a titan. He also noticed that it had stopped raining, making sure that the blood from the bodies the titan had eaten would stay on him for now. After he reached the nearest rooftop, he turned around to see the titan reaching for him again. This time however he dodged the grab and fired his hook into its ankle, preparing a slash at it to immobilise it, he used a short burst of gas to propel himself towards the ankle, he slashed the back of the foot clean off, sending the titan to its knee. He then released his hook and spun around to fire his left hook into its neck and boosted his way up to its nape, slashing across the flesh, carving a chunk of it out as the titan fell on its face.

" _Now then"_ Nick thought. " _I have to find Sasha and the others."_

Sasha had now regrouped with the others such as Jean and Connie, but there was no sign of Nick. She was worried that he was hurt, or even worse. But she was here with the other recruits who had gathered here with looks of defeat on most of their faces.

Connie, who had managed to put aside the trauma of having to fight the titans was talking to Jean about what to do now.

"Hey Jean, what do we do now" Connie asked him, his attitude quite down at the moment.

Jean was not faring much better at the moment. "We can't do anything. They finally gave us the order to withdraw, and we're all out of gas. Of course." He sighed. "I can't believe this is how it's gonna end…because of those damned cowards."

"You mean the supply team?" Connie asked him. "What happened? Where are they?"

"They lost their will to fight" Jean explained as he pointed towards the HQ, which was overrun by titans now. "I mean, who could blame them, but they abandoned their duty to supply us. What's more is that titans have swarmed the place, meaning we can't get the gas ourselves."

Connie was getting more aggravated by the situation. "Then why are we waiting? We gotta go! Start thinning their numbers so we have a chance! Sitting here on this roof is completely pointless. Eventually, the Titans are gonna come for us."

Jean didn't say anything, he only looked at him with a blank look.

"We don't have much gas left." Connie went on. "And what little we have will be wasted by runing away, and without our mobility we're completely screwed."

"You're using your head for once, Connie," he said. "Nice going, but I'm not sure if we've got the numbers needed to pull this thing off. The veterans in the vanguard force have all been killed. How exactly do a bunch of rookies pull off a suicide mission like this? I mean, let's assume half our forces survive the initial assault. Then what? The supply room is probably crawling with Titans in the three to four-meter range. I don't see us accomplishing much there."

As he heard the words coming from Jean's mouth, the reality hit Connie. "It's... hopeless." He muttered.

On another part of the roof, Sasha was doing her best to try and galvanise the recruits, even though she was the last one from her squad. "Come on, guys. We can do it! Right? Let's go. If we all work together, we can make this happen. I know we can. All right? I'll take the lead."

The cadets however seemed tok traumatised to do anything in response to Sasha's proposal. " _Where are you Nick?"_ She thought to herself. " _We really need a plan"_ She looked over at Armin for a second. " _And Armin is in no shape to help at the moment."_

"Heads up" Connie shouted, "Two fifteen metres coming in fast"

Further down the street next to the recruits, two abnormal fifteen metres were sprinting towards where the recruits were gathered. Some of the recruits gasped in shock at the speed the titans were coming at them at.

"We'll handle it" Reiner called out, referring to him, Marco, Annie and Bertholdt. But before they could move one of the fifteen metres went down into the side of a building, not getting back up. The recruits watched in awe as someone caught up with the other sprinting titan and gracefully sliced its nape, killing it before it hit the ground.

"Who is that?" One of the cadets called out.

"It must be Mikasa" Another one offered up.

"No, she was in the Rear-Guard, these titans came from the east." Reiner said.

"Then who is it?" Daz asked, trying not to throw up everywhere at the sight of the blood.

The soldier landed on the roof, covered in a red, blood like substance, which had completely soaked his white pants and had stained the lower part of his white shirt. He turned around and they all saw Nick standing there, looking like he had just been thrown up by a titan. But before anyone could ask someone else arrived at the scene.

"Annie" A voice called out. Annie turned and saw Mikasa striding towards her. "I know how bad things have gotten. And I know it's selfish putting personal matters first. But have you seen Eren?"

"No I haven't, and I haven't seen anyone go up the wall either." Annie answered her question with.

"But we found Armin, he's over there." Reiner interjected, pointing hs thumb in Armin's direction.

Mikasa walked over to where Armin was sitting by himself to find out where Eren was.

"Hey Nick" Sasha spoke. "What happened back there?" She asked, wondering why he was soaked in a red substance.

"I gave up" he admitted. "After she died, I wanted to die too."

"Then why didn't you?" Sasha asked him.

"Because I found a reason to keep living. A reason to fight back, no matter how bleak it looks. I will always fight from now on." He told her.

"What was that reason?" Annie asked him out of the blue, signifying that she had been listening to him.

"Memories" he simply said. "If I'm dead I cannot remember all the joys in my life. All the good times I had. That is why I chose to keep fighting."

They were then interrupted by Armin, who was talking to Mikasa about Eren's whereabouts.

"The cadets of Squad 34 : Thomas Wagner, Nac Tias, Mylius Zeramuski, Mina Carolina and Eren Yeager."

" _They all died, but how?"_ Nick thought, upset at the death of his friends, but he didn't let it show on his face.

"These brave five... upheld their duties and died valiantly of the field of battle." Armin finished with, tears flowing down his face at the death of his best friend.

The cadets around them couldn't believe that the whole squad had died, especially Eren, they knew he was skilled after making it to fifth in the top ten, but he didn't even make it to graduation.

"I'm so sorry Mikasa" Armin apologised. "It should have been me who died."

"Armin" Mikasa spoke, no emotion in her voice whatsoever. "Stand up" she commanded as she pulled him to his feet. "Now isn't the time to get emotional" she said as she turned around.

"Marco, if we eliminate or bypass the titans at HQ, we can refill our gear and get over the wall. Is that assessment correct."

"Well, uh, I guess so. Sure" he said, being put off by her sudden change in attitude.

"But even with you on point there's just too many of them." He stated.

"I can do it!" She declared to the cadets.

"I'm strong" she stated, pulling her sword out and holding it high into the air. "Real strong. None of you even come close. I am a warrior."

Nick wanted to say something to his relative, but he needed to let her finish so the cadets would have the motivation needed to fight their way to the HQ.

"Know this" she said. "I have the power to slay all of the Titans that block our way…even if I have to do it alone. As far as I'm concerned, I am surrounded by unskilled, cowardly worms"

Some of the cadets stared in shock, some were insulted that she had the nerve to insult them after what they had been through. However it was working as it got them out of their traumatised state for the moment.

"You can all just sit here, twiddle your thumbs and watch how its done." She finished her speech with.

"Wait Mikasa you can't be serious" A cadet called out.

"Yeah are you crazy?" Another shouted.

The cadets heard the sound of blades being unsheathed as they turned and saw a blood soaked Nick with two swords out, walk over to Mikasa and stand next to her.

"You guys should know" He started. "Someone who meant a lot to me told me that the most important thing in life isn't what you do, it's how you remember the things you do." He stopped to collect himself as the cadets, even Mikasa, all stared at him. "It's about remembering the joy in your life, not focusing on the worst parts of it. But if you die, you won't have those memories anymore. And if you don't fight, you die. But if you fight, you can win, and if you win you live, and if you live, you get to remember." And with that he turned around. "Let's go Mikasa" he said as he sped off towards HQ with Mikasa in tow.

"Wow, that was actually good" Jean said, surprised at Nick's motivational words. "But I still blame you Eren"

"Hey" he shouted out to the rest of the cadets. "We weren't taught to let our comrades fight alone. Unless you are a coward, in which case, stay out of my way!"

After that Jean and Connie followed suit while Sasha was shouting at the others. "Hey. Seroiusly, come on you bunch of chickens" She then followed Armin, Reiner, Annie and Bertholdt off the roof.

Now spurred on, the rest of the cadets on the roof gave a cry of determination as they all followed the example set by Nick and Mikasa.

Mikasa quickly overtook Nick on the way to HQ, both of them slicing away at the titans easily. He looked over to Mikasa and noticed how fast she was going.

"Damn, Mikasa is a bad ass!" Connie exclaimed. "How is she going so fast."

" _No, she's using too much gas. I should have known, the adrenaline is distracting her and she isn't conserving her gas."_ He thought to himself.

Then it happened, she ran out of gas amd went careening into a rooftop, both her blades breaking in impact with the roof.

Armin immediately changed his course to go after his friend.

" _Do I go after her? Or do I stay here and hope Armin gets to her. Think damn it!"_

"Connie, go after them" Nick shouted. "Make sure they're alright."

"I'll go too" Jean offered.

"No Jean, wee need you to lead the cadets to HQ." Nick interjected.

"What about you Nick? You could lead them." He suggested.

"No Jean. You need to lead them." He paused to look at his reflection on his blade. His face streaked with the blood of others. "I'm going to carve up any titan that gets in our way." He told him.

"There you go, it's settled then." Connie said as he changed direction to go after Armin and Mikasa.

Nick was now at the front on the cadets, Jean a short distance behind him, shouting orders to the cadets to keep moving. There was a twelve metre in front of them, looking right at him.

"Look out!" Jean yelled.

Nick continued forward until he released his hooks, falling to the floor as he shot another one past its leg, he went under the titan and twisted to shoot a hook into its neck. He flew up and quickly dispatched of the titan, clearing the way for the cadets.

"Holy shit, when did he get so good?" One of the recruits questioned as they flew after him.

"Yeah, how come he wasn't in the top ten?" Another asked.

"He didn't want the top ten" Krista explained as she flew alongside them. "He wanted to join the Scouts from the start so he saw it was pointless to take someone else's spot in the top ten."

"Woah. I guess he isn't the regular guy from the interior is he then?" Another cadet asked.

Krista just smiled before speaking. "No. He really isnt."

The cadets were now on top of a roof, about halfway to the HQ, when Tom, one of the cadets had ran out of gas down in the street. The titans were converging on him as he cried out for help. Two of his friends went to help him but they were quickly grabbed by the other titans as they began to eat them as the other cadets watched in horror.

" _Why couldn't I do anything? Why didn't I?"_ Jean thought to himself. " _Wait, no thats it!"_ He had an idea now.

"Everyone move out while they're distracted" he called out, jumping to the lower ledge to continue the journey to headquarters.

"He's right lets go" Nick stated, following Jean on the roof.

The cadets quickly followed after them, using the cadets being eaten as a distraction to move past them.

As Jean flew through the streets, three titans were in his way. He dodged the first two but ths third grabbed his leg, but before he could swing at the titans finger it let go of him, he saw that Nick had sliced the titans nape, as the titan fell he saw the other two were dead on the ground as well.

" _Holy shit! How does he do that? Even Mikasa wouldn't have an easy time with three titans."_ Jean thought to himself as he landed on a roof and started to run.

Marco landed next to him and ran alongside him and spoke to him. "Jean. You really came through for us there. We owe you big time." Jean looked a little confused, so Marco began to elaborate. "Don't shrug it off. I'm serious, we're alive because of you. Like I said you make a great leader."

"Easy with that crap, we're not out of this yet." He replied.

He then took off again, they were close to the HQ now. He and Marco dodged two titans before they heard the screams of someone being grabbed. "Keep going" Jean shouted. "Don't stop for anything"

" _Or anyone"_ he thought to himself.

Jean let out a cry before covering his face as he smashed through the window. He was the first one in, so he turned around to see some of the others flying through the windows as well. He looked through the window he came through from where he was standing and saw Nick kill another 12 metre and coming through the window Jean broke.

Jean turned around and saw other cadets hiding under the tables, cowering in fear. One had blood on her face and shoulder and both of them were crying.

"You guys were with the supply team." Jean stated, still staring at them.

"Y-Yeah." The male cadet nervously replied.

Jean then took a hold of his jacket, pulled him out from under the table and punched him across the face, sending him to the floor.

"You cowards" Jean yelled as Marco came to hold him back. "You left us to die out there, You abandoned us."

"The titans overran the supply room." The female cadet cried out. "There was nothing we could do."

"It's your job to deal with it and back us up anyway" Jean shouted, enraged by their cowardice.

Reiner however, heard sonething coming from outside and yelled out, "Hit the deck" just before one of the walls were blown open, two titans looking through the hole in the wall.

"There's too many of us, move further in!" One cadet yelled out as they all began to scramble towards the inner part of the building.

" _Shit, looks like I'll have to deal with these two"_ Nick thought, but before he could pull out his last pair of blades he saw a fist collide with the side of the titans face, blowing both if them away.

They were replaced by a fifteen metre with no jaw, long ears and messy brown hair. It was currently roaring with what Nick could only assume with pure hatred at the other titans. He heard the sounds of windows being broken but his full attention was on the titan in front of him.

" _It has to be a shifter, but who?"_ He thought.

" _Frieda is that-"_ He began, tightening his grip on the handles.

"No, it's not the one that killed me, but I may know who it is." She told him.

" _How? Who is it?"_ He asked.

"I think it's Eren, because I think it was his father who stole my power. I didn't tell you before because I thought it would set you off." She explained.

 _"Why didn't you tell me he had it?"_ He asked her.

"Because I wasn't sure it was him, He doesn't look like Grisha." She told him, hoping he wouldn't do domething rash. "What will you do now?" She asked.

" _No. This is good. We can use his power to take back the city, then Wall Maria, and use it to kill all the titans on this Island so we can be free of the walls."_

"But what about Marley and the other shifters?" She asked.

" _All in due time Frieda, the Armoured Titan hasn't shown up yet, and if he sees this titan fighting the others, he won't."_

"Why not?" She asked.

" _Because they don't know about the vow of pacifism passed down through Karl Fritz's memories, so they will likely think that he holds the power."_

"But he does hold it." Frieda countered with.

" _Yes, but hopefully they will focus their attempts on capturing him instead of breaking the walls."_ He explained.

"I can only hope you're right."

He then felt a hand on his shoulder, he looked and saw Mikasa. "We need to move, Armin has a plan" she said.

"Right, lets go then." He told her as they moved towards where Armin was gathering the cadets to explain his plan.

They entered a room with a lift in the middle going down to the supply room, Armin had schematics for the supply room on the floor, going over the plan when Jean and some others came into the room.

"Good news" Jean announced. "Courtesy of the Military Police, and covered in a layer of dust." He said, opening his crate to reveal a number of muskets inside.

Jean filled the rifle and checked it to see if it was operational. "Are you sure buckshot is the way to go? Seems like we might as well throw spit wads. Come on, guys. Are guns even effective?"

"It's bound to be better than nothing" Armin told him.

"We're looking at seven Titan in the supply room of the four meters tall variety. If we time this perfectly, this much ammo ought to be enough to do the trick. Step 1: we lower a group into the area by a lift to get the Titans' attention. Step 2: when the Titans come within range, the group fires in all four directions simultaneously, blinding them. Then, the hard part. The moment of truth, as it were."

He paused for a moment to breathe.

"Before the Titans have enough time to recover, seven of us swoop down from the ceiling and strike their vital regions. That's it. That's the plan. It puts all our lives on the line. If we screw up, we're dead. That's a hell of a risk for one attack, but it's our only chance. Seven people have to slay seven Titans in one blow at the same time. We're gonna need the best of you. The seven soldiers most physically gifted and adept with their parring blades. You'll be the difference between life and death for the rest of us. I'm sorry. That's how it is"

"Seems like a sound plan" Reiner noted.

"When it comes down to it, the risk is the same for everyone." Annie stated.

"So then, it's all or nothing" Nick said.

"Look, I'm, uh… ready to be talked out of this." Armin nervously told the group. "One half-baked strategy can't be our only option, right?"

"It's a good plan Armin" Nick told him.

"Armin, you're a better strategist than you give yourself credit for." Mikasa told him. "Your mind has saved me and Eren many times."

"Wait... when did I ever-" he said only to be cut off by Mikasa.

"You didn't realise it at the time, but we can talk about it later." She told him, getting ready to kill the titans remaining in the supply room.

"Wait!" Jean said, gaining the attention of the cadets. "Who's going down there to kill the titans?" He asked.

"Well I was thinking you, Mikasa, Reiner Bertholdt, Annie, Connie and Sasha." Armin repiled.

"What about Nick?" Jean asked.

"But he didn't make the top ten" Amin explained.

"No. Jean's right. On the way here Nick was cutting down the titans like a pro, we need him." Reiner said.

"Alright then, Jean you sit out. Nick you take his place." Armin told him.

"Alright, let's do it." Nick said.

The seven of them were now walking down the stairs towards the support beams where they would take position above the titans before attempting to kill them.

" _Hey Frieda"_

"Yes love?"

 _"What do we do about Eren, if it's him?"_

"What do you mean?" She asked.

" _I mean when the MP find out about him, they will try to kill him because they would fear him and his power. Or what about your father, if he finds ouf then surely he would try to take the power back."_

"Yes, he probably would, but he could only use himself... or Historia."

" _Exactly, we need to make sure that doesn't happen, or else we're back to the beginning again."_

"Everyone, get in position" Reiner said, snapping him out of his conversation with Frieda.

They had all taken their positions on the support beams, waiting for the gunfire to signal them to attack. For someone who had the lives of everyone else riding on him, he was surprisingly calm. He wondered about how everyone else was taking the pressure. He was sure Mikasa didn't feel the pressure, sane with Annie and Reiner. He thought Bertholdt would be a bit nervous about it, but he had the skill to cope. But with Connie and Sasha, he was sure that they were scared out of their minds, they made the top ten, but they would be stupid if they weren't terrified.

"FIRE" came the shout from Marco as the gunshots echoed across the room, simultaneously blinding all the titans.

The seven on the beams rushed towards their targets, jumping down and slashing at the titans. Nick sliced horizontally, a clean cut through the nape. He looked around to see five of the seven titans go down.

"Connie and Sasha missed!" Bertholdt called out.

"Lead them the hell back!" Jean shouted from the lift.

Sasha was shocked at the titan turned around staring her down. She started apologising to the titan for sneaking up on it. She squealed as the titan lunged for her and she moved out the way, dropping her swords and covering her head.

Nick, seeing his food stealing buddy in danger, sprung into action, jumping up and slicing the nape of the titan before Mikasa could get to it.

Connie had been backed up into a pillar before Annie killed the titan by jumping up off a crate.

"Niiick!" Sasha squealed. "You saved me." She said, while grabbing onto his jacket, tears coming out if her eyes.

"Sasha stand up, you're gonna be fine" He told her as he helped her to her feet.

"Thanks I owe you one" Connie said to Annie.

"Don't sweat it" She replied nonchalantly.

"Wow that was dangerous." Reiner told Annie. "Glad you're okay." All she did was seemingly ignore him and walk away.

The cadets were now jubilant at their success, now believing that they would escape from Trost alive by retaking HQ from the titans thanks to the "Rogue" Titan outside, killing the other titans.

"I caved in front of them... I'll never be able to face them again!" Sasha cried out while refilling her tanks.

"God damnit save your whining for later!" Connie yelled at her.

"Sasha" Nick said while he walked up to her. "It doesn't matter anymore, what matters is that you and everyone else is fine. And if you stay calm until we get back, I'll help you aquire more meat since we lost the last meat. Okay?"

Sasha perked up at his words and quickly nodded her head and hugged hin tightly. "Thank you Nick."

"No problem Sasha" He said as he lightly hugged back.

" _Now, onto that shifter outside"_ He thought to himself as he made his way to the roof.

When he arrived on the roof he saw Armin, Mikasa, Jean, Reiner, Bertholdt and Annie. Annie and Jean were arguing over whether the titan could be an ally for them. He also saw that the titan was pinned against a building, the mindless titans feeding on his body.

"Oh no." Armin said, "It's the titan that ate Thomas."

The titan that was trapped let out a hateful roar at the sight of it. The titan lunged forward, its right arm being ripped off at the sudden movement, it continued its charge forward, losing its other arm as it reached the titan. The titan sunk its teeth into its nevk and lifted it up. Shocking the watching cadets. It swung the titan at two smaller ones, and then threw it at another, sending both the mindless titans into a building.

The titan ket out a bloodcurdling roar at its victory, it then sunk to its knees as it ran out of energy.

"What were you saying about it helping us." Jean said. "Because I think its a moot point now." He turned around to leave. "Come on lets go." Seeing that no one was following he spoke up again. "Look a titans a titan."

Nick looked at the fallen form of the presumed Attack Titan, he could see the nape opening up as steam poured out from its body.

The cadets on the roof looked on as they all saw Eren emerge from the titans body. "Well then" Nick said. "That's rather ironic."


	16. The Struggle for Trost : Part Three

After watching Eren coming out of the nape of the titan who had fought off and killed at least twenty other titans, Mikasa sprung into action, grappling down into the street, racing towards Eren.

"Mikasa wait!" Armin called out, attempting to get her attention.

They watched from the roof as she raced towards him and climb up onto the titans decaying carcass and pull Eren into a hug. They watched as she put her head to his chest. " _Must be checking for his heartbeat."_ Nick thought as he also went down to help her and Eren.

" _He must be pretty tired after collapsing"_ He thought just as he reached street level. As he got closer he could hear Mikasa sobbing inti Eren's unconscious body, he could see her visibly shaking as well.

"Mikasa, we need to move." Nick said as he reached her. She didn't respond except for holding Eren even tighter. "Mikasa it isn't safe here, we need to get back to high ground." She looked up at him for the first time. He saw the tears in her eyes, tears of happiness at finding Eren alive.

"Mikasa" Armin called out as he and Jean also came down to get her back on the roof. "We need to get out of here" He said.

Once they had gotten Eren on the roof of HQ, Mikasa wouldn't let go of his body, seemingly afraid that he would disappear if she let go of him.

"So you're telling me" Jean began as he looked around at all the decaying corpses of the dead titans. "That Eren did... all this."

"Yes, it was him" Nick said.

"I don't understand" Armin muttered as he held onto Eren's hand, interlacing their fingers. "His arm and leg were bitten off."

"They were" Nick said, "His boot is gone and the fabric of his shirt is torn." He explained.

"But then how-" Armin began before being cut off by Annie.

"They grew back" She stated.

"Exactly. It seems that he has the healing properties of a titan as well as being able to take the form of a titan as well."

"What does this mean then?" Jean asked to no one in particular.

"It means we can retake this city, and possibly Wall Maria in the future." Nick told them.

"What!?" Jean shouted. "How do you know he won't kill us the next time he does it?"

"He didn't attack any of us this time, and judging by the way he fought, he seemed to have at least some control over it. Otherwise he wouldn't have used a fighting stance."

"B- But he could be a threat to us!" Jean exclaimed, still panicked at the thought of Eren being a titan.

"He could also be the on me to save us all from this war Jean. I know you want to join the MP, so let others like Eren fight in your place."

Jean ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "Well I guess he did save us"

"Heads up guys" Reiner called out. "The Garrison are here."

" _Shit, if they saw what happened, they will try to kill him. Captain Weilmann is likely in charge after scurrying off back to the Inner Gate."_

"Cadets!" A commanding voice called. "Return to the Inner Wall and hand Cadet Yeager over when you reach there."

" _I can't let them kill him. No. I won't let them. He's our only hope now. I'm sorry Eren, but the fate of humanity now rests on your shoulders."_

They had now reached the top of Wall Rose and they were met by Captain Weilmann, while Eren, Armin and Mikasa were sent to the base of the wall where the Garrison could keep an eye on them until the Captain returned to give them orders.

"Any of you who speak a word of what happened out there will be struck down as a traitor. Do you understand?"

"Yes Sir" They all replied.

"And you" he pointed at Nick. "Clean yourself up. That's an order soldier."

"Yes Sir" Nick replied.

" _Shit, I'll have to make this quick so I can get down there."_

"You could ignore his orders" Frieda suggested.

" _I could, but I have to trust Armin snd Mikasa to help him if they have to, as long as he doesn't die by their hands. Hell even if he's eaten fully this time would be better than the Garrison killing him."_

"Thats quite grim" Frieda noted. "However you're right, it's better for the power to be in the hands of a trained soldier rather than a new born child, who may not even live in the walls."

" _Yeah, but I trust them to not let Eren die. Mikasa would never let it happen."_ He said to her.

"Yeah, it's scary what she does when it comes to him. She would probably fight the whole Garrison to keep him safe."

" _Probably, but lets hope it doesn't come to that. It wouldn't help at all."_

"No you're right love, it wouldn't."

(Eight minutes later)

" _Looks like I'm finally going to get this shit off of me"_ he thought as he was given access to a hot shower after the soldiers got a sight of him at the HQ behind the Inner Wall.

"You should be quick love, you dont know what's happening out there." Frieda warned him.

" _Right_ " he replied as he quickly discarded of his blood soaked clothes. "Remind _me to burn those clothes Frieda"_ he said after he stepped into the shower.

(13 minutes later)

He had finally managed to successfully scrub himself clean of all the shit covering his body, he had to wash himself with soap multiple times to get himself smelling nice instead of like a titans stomach.

He had just finished putting on his gear when he hear what sounded like a cannon firing and a larger explosion following it.

" _Shit, Shit, Shit."_ He thought. "Fuck you Weilmann" he quietly grumbled as he took off running through the building, crashing inti multiple people who were yelling at him to watch where he was going. When he got outside he saw the plume of smoke coming from the base of the wall. " _Did he transform" he_ thought.

He then used his gear and took off towards the smoke. Since he only had one jacket and he was going to burn it, he only had his shirt on, with the straps going over it. He was slightly cold with no jacket to cover him. He flew over where other cadets of the 104th were at the time such as Sasha, Marco and Krista.

Once he got to the roof closest to the smoke he saw Annie, Reiner, Bertholdt and Jean all staring into the steam. All he could see was the half formed body of a titan, the flesh had only formed on its left side and its arm was held upwards.

" _Did he block the cannonball?. If he did there's now way Weilmann will let him live now."_

The Garrison members were terrified now after seeing the upper half of a titan formand block the shot from the cannon.

"Get ready to shhot once you see it." One of the Garrison members called out.

"NO!" Weilmann yelled. "Hold your fire. Let's wait and see what it does. Artillery crews get that cannon reloaded."

" _Well then, looks like he has the sense to not shoot on site."_ Nick noted.

"But for how long?" Frieda asked.

" _Shit, I need to do something."_

"What could you do?" Frieda asked.

He sighed. " _I... I don't know."_ He told her.

Just then the head of the titan corpse fell off the body and onto the floor, creating even more smoke for the Shiganshina trio to use as cover.

" _That should buy them some time."_ Nick thought.

"Captain Weilmann" A silver haired soldier spoke. "The cannons are almost ready to fire again. What are your orders for the next attack?" She asked.

"All troops await my signal!" He called out.

"Yes Sir" The troops shouted back, still aiming their rifles towards the smoke.

"That Captain is going to kill our only hope" Nick said to the other four standing next to him.

"We're all dead if he kills them" Reiner agreed.

"We need to do something" Nick said to them.

"What can we do?" Annie asked. "We'll be arrested for treason if we try to help." She paused for a moment. "Well you won't" she said to Nick.

"Guys look, someone's coming out." Jean pointed out.

They all looked to see Armin leave the smoke and then be halted by the Captain.

"Halt!" Weilmann called out, causing Armin to stop dead in his tracks. He then raised his hands to show he wasn't doing anything as the soldiers pointed their rifles at him.

"Is this supposed to be your true form monster!" Weilmann shouted, clearly losing it due to his paranoia. "I don't buy it. Not for one second. I'll give the order to fire, I mean it."

"Eren is not a foe of mankind" Armin told the soldiers. "We're willing to cooperate with military command and share everything we've learned about his powers!"

"Your pleas fall on deaf ears!" The Captain shot back. "He revealed his true form and because of that threat he cannot leave here alive. If you insist he's not an enemy of ours, show me proof! Otherwise, we'll blast him back to whatever hole he crawled out of!"

"Weilmann is losing it. His paranoia is gonna be the death of us all." Nick said to the others with him.

"You don't need any proof," Armin pointed out desperately. "The fact of the matter is it doesn't matter what we perceive him to be!"

"What!?" Weilmann replied with.

"The reports say hundreds of soldiers saw him," he explained. "And those who were there saw him fighting other Titans… and that means they saw him get swarmed by Titans as well. To put it plainly, the Titans saw him how they see each and every human being: as their prey! And it doesn't matter how else you look at it! That is an irrefutable fact!"

" _Woah Armin, that was impressive, if only you weren't talking to Weilmann."_ Nick thought.

The soldiers then began murmuring between themselves, some even lowering their weapons. It seemed as if Armin's words has swayed them on their stance.

Unfortunately Captain Weilmann wasn't swayed by his argument. "Prepare to attack! Don't let yourselves be swayed by his cunning lies!"

He then continued on as the soldiers raised their weapons once again. "The Titans' behavior has always been beyond our comprehension. I wouldn't put it past him to assume human form. He's… speaking our language in an attempt to deceive us! I refuse to let them continue this behavior anymore!"

" _It sounds like Weilmann is making it up as he goes along. Even with Eren coming out of a titan, he's far too paranoid."_

Armin looked shocked by the Captain's words as he turned around to presumably look at Eren and Mikasa before he turned back around, the determination clear as day on his face.

"I am a soldier!" he declared. "And I have dedicated my heart to the restoration of humanity, sir! Nothing could make me prouder than to die for such a noble cause! If we were to use his Titan ability and combine it with the manpower we have left, I believe we can do it! We can retake this city! For humanity's glory and what little time I have left to live, I will advocate his strategic value!"

His voiced seemed to echo around he area they were trapped in. His voice making Weilmann's seem like a mouse in comparison.

"Captain Weilmann" One of the other Officers said. "His words are worth considering. Maybe we should-"

"QUIET" Weilmann roared as he began to raise his arm to signal to the artillery crews to attack once more.

" _Shit. I have to do something"_ Nick thought as he reached for his handle, preparing to attack Weilmann if necessary but before he could pull the trigger he saw Weilmann's arm being stopped from lowering by another man.

" _Ugh, it's that drunk Pixis. Well at least he wont kill Eren. I've heard that he was always a bit weird when it came to planning."_ Nick mused to himself.

Eren, Armin and Mikasa were then taken to the top of the wall by Pixis, while the five on the roof made their way back to where the others were waiting at.

Once they had reached the top of the wall, Pixis called up the staff officers to the top if the walk to hash out a plan.

After they had their conversation about what Eren would do and then how they would seal the hole using Eren's titan power, Pixis stood at the top of the wall with Eren by his side.

"ATTENTION" His voice boomed from the top of the wall, gaining the attention of every soldier in the vicinity. The call for attention also shut up the soldiers who were making a scen like Daz, who didn't want to go back to trost.

"Take note. The blueprint of the Trost recovery operation is this : our primary objective is to reseal the hole. Yes, you heard right. What's more, it will be done manually"

This cause some mutterings to go about between the terrified soldiers in the streets.

"As for how the task will be done," he went on, indicating Eren, "that's where this fellow comes in. Allow me to introduce Cadet Eren Yeager!"

Eren saluted behind Pixis.

"Dont let appearances fool you" He stated. "Cadet Yeager is the product of cutting edge science. On top of that he possesses the ability to fabricate and control a titan body at will."

"What!?" Connie exclaimed. "Can someone explain how this is possible?" He asked.

"Just shut up and listen you idiot" Ymir told him.

Pixis then continued. "Recall the massive boulder roughly a league from the gate. Having assumed Titan form, Cadet Yeager will hold said boulder on his back, shlup it into the hole, and voilà! And this is where you all come in! Your job will be to defend him. Yes, defend a Titan against its own kind."

"They're lying" Daz screeched. "I'm not gonna be drawn into sacrificing myself for this crap! We're just disposable tools to you people! You expect us to live and die by whatever comes out of your mouth!?"

"Daz shut the fuck up" Nick hissed. "You're making it worse."

However Daz's shouts lead to a chain reaction of many soldiers turning and trying to leave. Captain Weilmann however didn't take this too well.

"Traitors!" He yelled as he pulled out one of his blades. "I'll kill you where you stand."

"Anyone who wants to leave. Will by personal order, not be charged with treason" Pixis shouted to the soldiers down below. This caused Weilmann to turn around in shock at his words.

" _What is he doing"_ Nick thought.

"Those who have seen a Titan firsthand will not be expected to revisit such horror again! Whomever this applies to, you may leave with my blessing. Additionally, anyone with family or loved ones they would spare from the same problem may also leave. The crown will continue to recognize your service. Thank you, and good luck!" Pixis called out to the soldiers below. This speech however caused the soldiers to turn back, not wanting their families to meet their fate at the hands of a titan if they lost Wall Rose as well.

" _Wow, didn't expect that."_

"Nicholas Meier?" A woman called out to him as she aporoached.

"Who wants to know" he responded with.

"Anka Rheinberger" she introduced herself. "Commander Pixis wants to talk to you."

"Hold on, I'm listening to him talk about the truth about the Wall Maria recovery operation four years ago."

"You already know the truth. So why listen" she countered with.

"I guess you're right, lets go then" he followed her to the base of the wall where there was a lift waiting to take them up the wall.

"Where's your jacket?" She asked.

"It's covered with the insides of a titan"

"You cut open a titans stomach" She stated. "Why?"

"I had to get out." Was all he said as she remained quiet for the rest of the ride up the wall.

"Commander, I brought him" Anka said as they reached the top of the wall.

"Very good Anka, now go help Gustav with the plan. I need to talk to this young man." He said while waving her off.

"It's good to see you again Nick. Still got that iron grip?" Pixis asked.

"That depends if you try and hit on my mother again" He spat back. "Sir"

"Well then I'll get straight to the point. Cadet Ackerman says your one of the best we have, but your ranking says otherwise. Care to explain the contradiction."

"I never wanted the top ten." He told him. "So I gave others the chance to make it instead of me."

"Hmm, how noble of you. Befitting the title held by your family. Now, do you intend to take part in the Trost recovery operation."

"Yes, It is my duty as a soldier."

"How brave of you, well then, I'll be placing you in the Elite squad tasked with keeping Cadet Yeager safe." Pixis told him.

"Where is the squad?" He asked.

"The officers leading the squad are on their way here now. I'll make sure that they know you're coming with them. Oh and don't die out there, I'd hate to see your mother angry at me again."

"Yes Sir"

(15 minutes later)

"Ian Dietrich, Rico Brzenska, Mitabi Jarnach, the fate of all of us rests in your hands." Pixis told them.

"Oh and Cadet Meier will be accompanying you on this mission."

"Who is that Sir?" Ian asked.

"He ranked barely inside the top forty." Rico protested. "Why is he coning with us?" She asked, remembering reading about his family status in the reports.

"Have you not read the reports of the initial battle Rico?" Pixis asked.

When she shook her head he elaborated. "The reports say that he has at least twelve confirmed solo kills so far. Thats more than any of you correct."

"Bu- But Sir" Mitabi started.

"No buts. Cadet Ackerman graduated top of her class and she has less solo kills than him. He is going with you. Thats an order."

"Yes Sir" The three officers responded.

(Twenty minutes later)

The decoy operation had begun fifteen minutes ago, drawing a lot of titans away from the boulder that Eren was tasked with lifting. As they were running Mikasa was trying to make sure that Eren was okay with the mission while Rico was busy grilling Nick after she had warned Eren about the cost of this mission.

"I don't know how you sweet talked your way into coming with us. But if you get us killed, I will come for you." Rico warned him.

"That's assuming you survive the operation" Nick shot back. "You're assuming that I have no skill and that you do. What makes you so sure that you will survive." Seeing she had no response to this he continued. "That's right, you dont know you will survive, you don't know if I have the skills necessary for this operation. But most of all, we don't know if this plan will be successful."

"Can it Meier" Ian shouted back at him. "We don't have time for you to be putting doubts in our heads. All that matters is that we get Eren to the hole in the gate."

"Okay we're here. Let's do it" Ian shouted as he shot a green smoke flare. This signalling the start of the mission to retake Trost.

Eren quickly took off with Mikasa close behind him, Nick and the other three were close together as they made their way towards the boulder he was supposed to lift.

"One eight metre down the street!" Ian called out.

"I'll take it" Nick replied as he shot off towards the titan, the titan was facing him so he had to get around it. The titan swung its arm at him, he easily dodged and went across its face, slashing its eyes, blinding it as he circled around to cut the nape and kill the titan.

"Looks like Pixis was right about him" Mitabi said.

Once they had reached the boulder they saw a bright flash of yellow light as they set down on the roof. Then they saw Eren's titan form as it went flying into a building.

" _That idiot, why didn't he do it standing still?"_ Nick angrily thought.

Then Eren emerged from the building, all fifteen metres of him standing tall once again as he let out a loud roar.

" _He needs to learn to not do that, he will attract titans if he does that everytime he transforms. And it hurts my ears."_

Something was wrong, he wasn't going for the boulder, he then turned around to look at Mikasa. Then he swung his fist at her, cutting her cheek with a piece of rubble. Mikasa then flew to his face and tried to reason with him but he swung at his own face, missing Mikasa and knocking himself out in the process.

"I knew it. We were foolish to think we could pull this off." Rico said as she fired a red flare into the sky, signalling the mission was a failure.

"So the kid was just a regular titan all along" Mitabi spoke up.

"No he wasn't, he is a human with the ability to transform into a titan" Nick said.

"It doesn't matter now, the mission is a failure" Rico said.

"That's not your call to make Rico. It's his" Nick said as he pointed at Ian. "And I'm not leaving before you ask, and I doubt Mikasa would either."

"Ian we have to leave." Rico protested.

"Captain!" A soldier called out. "We have two titans approaching from the front. A ten metre and a six metre."

"Heads up. We got a twelve metre approaching from the rear!" Another soldier called out.

"Ian thats it. Please. Just look at him, we need to get out of here. The plans a bust" Mitabi told Ian.

"Agreed. Full withdrawal. We have to leave him as he is" Rico said, prompting Mikasa to glare at the three officers.

"Ian snap out of it. What are you waiting for? Give the order. Hey it isn't like this is your fault. Come on, look this plan was doomed from the start. We all get that. Was it worth a shot? Sure. Whatever. We did the best with what we had, but all we have now is going back over the wall." Mitabi finished as he started to walk away, prompting Mikasa to walk towards him only to be cut off by Ian.

"Stop!" He commanded. "Easy, now's not the time."

"Team Rico take out the twelve metre approaching from behind. Team Mitabi and I will handle the two front runners." He told them calmly.

"Are you nuts!?" Rico protested.

"In case you haven't noticed I'm the one in charge." Ian told her. "Now do as your ordered soldier."

"We are not leaving Yeager defenceless. Period." He told them. Rico slightly shocked by this. "Change of plan. Our job now is to keep the others off him until he can be recovered. Whether we like it or not, he's still our last best chance. We're not about to abandon him. We're expendable, he isn't. He can't just be replaced."

"Please don't talk to me about our last best chance. He's a failure that countless soldiers have died because of. Just look at him Ian. Are you saying you want more soldiers to die because of that." Rico said while pointing at Eren's unconscious titan form.

"That's right." Ian responded. "Down to the last man. If that's what it takes so be it."

Rico and Mitabi were both shocked at his orders, they both believed that Eren was a lost cause now.

"Ian you can't be serious" Rico was still protesting his decision.

"What other hope against the titans do we have?" Ian shot back "Do you know something I don't? This is it. It's all we got and you damn well know it. I am making a judgement call here. If you have a better plan speak up. How else are we gonna get out from under their feet? I'm all ears here."

Rico was not impressed now. "If you're asking me how else were going to defeat the titans, obviously I have no idea."

"See. Thats why we can't afford to retreat. Not just yet. We may not know what else is in there, but there's hope. And as long as that's the case, we're gonna fight to the bitter end." Ian said to her.

"Look at us. Always scraping by. Always on the run. Don't you want it to be over? Don't you wanna make a stand? Well this is how it's done." Ian finished his speech with.

"This is just... This is madness." Rico said as she turned around and started to walk.

"Hey!" Ian shouted at her.

"I think you're right, if we're to stand, this is the only way. Just this once let's not fight a fight that's just a battle of attrition. Let the bastards taste humanities wrath. Right my team will intercept the twelve metre coming from the rear." She said as she walked towards her team.

Mitabi then started to walk past Ian before speaking. "Well we got the two in front or don't we?"

"Right" he said as Mikasa came up to him.

"Thank you Captain. That was very brave" She said to him.

"No it wasn't." He responded. "The fact of the matter is I was petrified of the mess you were about to get into." He said as he pulled out his blades.

"But you're free now. Do your thing. Make use of that inborn skill."

"Sir"

"Go save the man you love" He said before running off to help team Mitabi.

"It's not like that" she said.

"Sure it isnt." Nick finally spoke after all the arguments between the officers. "Come on we need to deal with any titans nearby." He said while pulling out his blades.

"Right" Mikasa said, also pulling out her own blades.

(Fifteen minutes later)

Nick was currenly helping Ian and Team Mitabi after they had become overrun by the titans approaching from the front. He had killed six more titans in the retake operation and he was currently slashing the heel of another so Ian could take it out. Once the titan was dead they landed on a roof, with Team Mitabi on the other side when they heard and felt the thumping coming from behind them.

Once they looked they saw Eren's titan form carrying the boulder on his back. The soldiers all around them were shocked, no one could say anything as they all watched the titan with a boulder more than twice it's size on its back.

"DEFEND HIM" Ian suddenly shouted. "To the last man if thats what it takes. Eren must reach the gate."

"You two" he pointed at Armin and Mikasa. "Stay with Eren. Thats an order. Hop to soldiers."

"Sir yes Sir" they responded and flew iff.

"Meier, you link up with Team Mitabi, they need your assistance."

"Yes sir" Nick responded as he flew off to find the team.

(4 minutes later)

Ian, Mikasa, Armin and some other soldiers were on a rooftop, watching the titans in the street leading to the gate when they saw Nick and Team Mitabi running at the titans from behind.

"Team Mitabi. What are you doing?" Ian shouted at then.

"The ugly sons of bitches lost all intrest in us. We need to get closer to grab their attention!" He yelled back. "Hey ugly. You want us to shove our blades right up your smelky asses." Mitabi then paled as the titans turned around to give chase to them.

One titan stayed though so Nick had to get it out of the way before he killed it. "Hey big guy!" He yelled. The titan turned around and started to follow him. "Yeah that's right. Come follow the pretty noble!" He called out to the titan behind him.

"Setting foot down there is suicide. If they get cornered they're dead!" Armin exclaimed.

"I know. Let's move out" Ian said to the group on the roof as he jumped down and led a titan out of Eren's path.

" _Fuck me, why the fuck is there two following me. Does the blood of an Ackerman really taste that good."_ Nick thought as he slashed the fingers of an eight metre reachig for him.

He was trying to lead them to a wider street so he could fight back and kill them with less risk of being caught and eaten.

He turned down a street but he looked behind him to see if they were still following, they were, but when he looked forward he saw a four metre feasting on the remains of another soldier.

" _Shit, I'm trapped here, there's no room to manoeuvre out of here, is this how I die?"_ He asked himself, but he then remembered what Frieda said to him in the stomach of the titan. " _Nick if you die here then how will you remember me."_ He remembers it well, she had given him a reason to fight. " _Fuck that, even if I die, I'll go down fighting!"_

He charged at the four metre in fromt of him because it was the smallest and it was currently distracted. He used a burst of gas to launch himself into the air so he could land on the titans shoulder. He then swung his blades into the nape, cutting deep into the flesh and killing the titan.

He then jumped off the titan into the larger street next to it, he pulled the trigger but he found out that he was out of gas.

" _Are you shitting me right now?"_

He then turned to ses the two titans from before were almost on top of him, he had no time to react as the eight metre scooped him up, his legs dangling out of its hand and his right arm trapped in its hand.

It raised him to its mouth, prepared to crunch on his bones but he used his free arm and legs to hold the titans teeth in place, the titan continually tried to bite down but Nick was able to use his strength to keep its jaw open for the time being.

He was hoping that someone would spot him and come to his rescue while he held on for dear life. From his position he could see Eren on the bridge towards the gate as Mikasa and Rico had killed the last titan in his path. He then saw Eren slam the boulder into the gate, sealing the breach.

" _He did it, he actually did it. Now we have a way to win against the titans."_

"But you're still stuck here" Frieda pointed out.

" _Thanks for reminding me Frieda, where would I be without you?"_ He sarcastically asked her.

"You would probably be dead, and so would I."

" _Yeah, sorry about that."_ He said while feeling the strain on his left arm.

"Don't worry about that, just keep fighting for me love."

It had been about four minutes since Eren sealed the breach snd the titan had made no move to crush him with its hands, it just tried to bite down on him, he was desperately trying to get his right arm free but it wouldn't budge.

He then saw two titans that were heading towards Eren being cut down by a figure with a cloak.

" _The scouts must be back, hopefully one of them will help me."_

He also noticed that the figure was spinning while it killed the two titans with ease, he made a note to try that later to see if it was more effective than just slashing at the napes.

(With the returning scouts)

"Mike look" Hange pointed at a titan. "There's someone holding its jaw open"

"Well, I'll go help them" Mike said as he sped off to help the soldier in the titans mouth. Once he reached the titan he quite easily dispatched of the titan, he wasn't humanities second stongest for no reason.

The soldier then fell to the floor as Mike went down to check on him. "Are you alright?" Mike asked.

"I don't have any gas left" He replied.

Mike then grabbed hold of his arm and brought him with him up the wall to where the scouts had gathered. Once he reached the top he set the soldier down as Erwin came over.

"Erwin Smith" the soldier spoke. "I had hoped we would meet again in better circumstances."

"You know him Erwin?" Hange asked, now coming alongside Mike.

"Yes. I met him five years ago to this day, during the Fall of Shiganshina. It's nice to meet you again Nicholas."


	17. Eve of the Counter-Attack : Part One

"I must say, I'm quite surprised that you joined the military given your family status." Erwin stated.

"What family status?" Mike asked.

"I come from a noble family inside the city of Mitras." Nick replied.

"Eh?" Hange and Mike asked. Quite shocked that a noble would risk his life in a battle.

"As much as I would like to catch up. We have more pressing matters at hand." Erwin said, using very formal dialogue when he spoke.

"I'm Commander Erwin Smith of the Scouting Regiment, but you already knew that." He then pointed to the tall man next to him. "This is Section Commander Mike Zacharius, he pulled you from the titans mouth." He then gestured to the woman next to him. "And this is Section Commander Hange Zoe, head of titan research for the Scouts."

" _So she's the crazy titan lady I heard about. I thought she would look more creepy than that."_ He thought to himself.

"As you can see we have just arrived. Captain Levi told us that the hole was plugged by a titan. Is this true?" Erwin asked.

"Well, it's partly true." Nick admitted, because Eren wasn't a titan, he just blocked the hole in his titan form.

"What do you mean by partly?" Erwin asked once again.

"Well... It was done by a human." The three of them looked shocked for a moment. "Who can transform into a titan."

"What!" Hange shrieked, as she grabbed onto Nick's shoulders. "Where is he? What does his titan look like? Oh just think of the experiments I could run." She was drooling now.

" _What's with people drooling on me today?"_

"Hange calm down." Erwin spoke once again. "Let him speak. What happened today."

"Well the Colossal Titan breached the wall. Us cadets were assigned to the Middle-Guard during the evacuation. After the withdrawl bell sounded, many of us didn't have the gas to get up the wall. So we launched an all or nothing attack on the HQ that was overrun by titans. We killed the titans in the supply room. We retreated back to the wall with Eren."

"Who's Eren?" Hange interrupted.

"He's the one that sealed the wall." Nick replied.

"Hange let him finish." Erwin spoke up again.

"Right, Eren was about to be killed by one of the Garrison Captains but Pixis stepped in. Eren then transformed. He picked up the boulder and then plugged up the breach." Nick finished the summary of the battle while Erwin pondered his words.

"And what of Eren, Do you think he is our enemy?" Erwin asked.

"No Sir, he hates the titans more than anything." Nick replied.

"But he is a titan." Mike pointed out.

"But he only found out about it today, and from the looks of it, the MP wont be happy about this. He will most likely be put on trial for treason." Nick countered.

"Well then, looks like we'll have to fight for his custody then." Erwin spoke out loud before turning to Nick. "You've been a great help Cadet. Go get some rest, looks like you need it."

Nick began to walk back towards the inner wall by going on top of the wall when he remembered something. His clothes, they were soaked in titan guts.

"Wait. Section Commander Hange." He said as he ran back to the scouts.

"What is it?" She asked, turning around to face him.

"Have you ever seen what's inside a titan's stomach?"

(Two days later)

Eren had been taken to the Capital where he would await a trial to see whether the Military Police or the Survey Corps would get custody over Eren. Eren hadn't woken up yet as he was still unconscious from his exhaustion at using his titan form three times in one day. Mikasa and Armin had bedn dragged along to the Capital to act as witnesses in Erens trial. Nick was ordered to go too but he refused, saying that he would be there when the trial happened and that he would help clean up the bodies in the Trost District .

The titans that had been corralled inside the Trost District were fired upon by the cannon armaments from the top of the wall. The cannons never stopped firing the day after the wall was sealed. The titans that remained behind were cut down by the Scout Regiment, however two titans were successfully captured to be used as test subjects by Section Commander Hange to test for any other weaknesses the titans have. However 207 soldiers were either dead of missing while 897 were injured. While the recovery of Trost proved as Humanities first real victory against the titans, too many soldiers died for celebrations to be put in order.

Nick was walking alongside Jean in the streets of Trost, surveying the danage as dead bodies of their fellow soldiers were named, counted and then unceremoniously dumper onto carts to be burned on a pyre later in the day.

Jean was walking with Nick down the street to help clean up more of the bodies when a body next to them caught Jean's eye, when he turned to look at the body he saw it was Marco. His jacket was gone and his right side had been completely bitten of by a titan. Jean was too in shock to process what he was seeing.

"Is..." Jean started, only to stop at the shock value of seeing Marco like this. "Is that Marco" he said while his arms were shaking.

"Jean what are you-" Nick started, only to stop when he saw Marco's body lying in the street next to where Jean was standing.

"If you have a name for this one it would help so we could pass it along." One of the clean up officers said as she walked over to them.

"I wondered where he was, but he's not the sort of guy... Marco, what happened? No, somebody saw it, they had to. Somebody must know how he died?" Jean said to himself, clearly suffering from the death of his friend.

"I need his name, we don't have time for this." The woman interrupted his rambling with. "Please son. You understand. Its been two days since the hole was sealed in Wall Rose, it's been too long, we're no where near accounting for all the dead. Unless these poor souls are dealt with soon an epidemic is likely to break out, we're the first line of defense against secondary disaster. We will commend the fallen once we have finished here. Understand."

"His name is Marco Bott." Nick said as he got down to examine his body. "He was a member of the 104th Cadet Corps, he was the Captain of squad nineteen I think."

"Yeah, that's right" Jean spoke once again.

"Thank you cadets, I'll make sure to pass this information on." The woman said as she noted down his name and affiliation before walking away to note down the names of the others.

"Nick, what are you doing?" Jean asked, watching as Nick had Marco's corpse turned on its side, seemingly looking at something.

" _The upper half of his harness is missing and there's a cut on his belt here."_ He thought to himself as he pulled his finger along the cut on the middle of the belt. " _The way it's cut makes it seem like his ODM gear was ripped off the belt."_

"Do you think it was a titan?" Frieda asked him.

" _It would be easier to say yes, but if it was the left side of his upper harness would still be attached alongside the left side of his ODM gear. The way it looks to me is that someone removed it forcefully from him."_ Nick grimly thought.

"But who would do that to Marco? He was always so nice and positive." Frieda proclaimed.

" _He must have seen or heard something he shouldn't have. It was most likely the Armoured and Colossal Titans."_

"So they were part of the military?" Frieda concluded from his statement.

" _Either that or they waited outside the walls for five years, which I doubt, there was a reason none of the noble families hired any workers after the fall of Wall Maria. They most likely mingled in with the refugees and joined up when they were old enough."_

"Hey!" Jean yelled as he yanked Nick's shoulder. "What are you doing?" He asked him, the anger clearly shown in his face.

"Oh right, I just found it strange that his upper harness was gone completely instead of ripped on one side." Nick told him in response.

Jean then paled and then spoke. "So you think that... someone did this?"

"It's possible." He stated.

"What? Why would someone do this? Marco was the nicest guy in the Corps." Jean said, with a sad smile on his face at the fond memories of Marco.

"Jean." Nick began, contemplating whether or not to tell him some of the truth to put him slightly at ease. "What do we know about the Colossal and Armoured Titans?" He asked.

"Well, nothing I guess. Why?" Jean asked back.

"Well, since Eren can transform into a titan, is it not safe to assume that they are the same as him, humans who can turn into titans." Nick told him.

"Can we trust him?" Frieda asked.

" _Well his mother did show up that one time with an omlete, and the enemy would not have taken their family's with them, that would leave their superiors with no leverage to use against them."_

"But... But why would someone do that?" Jean asked, slightly raising his voice.

"I don't know, but you see this cut on Marco's belt here." He said while pointing it out for Jean to look at. "His ODM gear was ripped off forcefully by a human, if it was a titan, it would either be crushed or still be there."

"We have to tell someone about this Nick!" Jean proclaimed.

"No Jean we can't." Nick countered with.

"What? Why not?" He asked.

"Because it's just a theory, and if rumors about our greatest enemies being a human as well spread, people would turn on each other, paranoid that their neighbour could be the Colossal Titan." Nick explained to Jean.

"Then what are we going to do?" Jean asked.

"You're not going to do anything Jean." He told him rather coldly.

"What? Marco was my best friend and-"

"This is exactly why you can't be a part of this." Nick stated. "Your emotions are guiding you, and they will in the future if you can't restrain them."

"How can you be like this?" Jean asked. "We just found Marco's body and you're acting like nothing happened!" He shouted at him.

"Because I learned the hard way during the Battle of Trost that my emotions got in the way of my goal, and I won't let it happen again." Nick told him.

"Right... Alright then, I'm trusting you to find out what happened to Marco."

"Jean before you leave, who was in Marco's squad that are still alive? They might have seen something happen.

"The only ones left are Annie, Bertholdt and Reiner." Jean told him as he walked away with Marco's body so he could be burned to prevent an epidemic.

"What are you thinking love?" Frieda asked once Jean had left Nick on his own in the street.

" _I think that the enemy will go after Eren if the Scouts get him, and Rod will definitely try something if he's given to the MP's."_

"Well then, what are you going to do?" She asked him.

" _I'm going to make sure that the Survey Corps are given custody of Eren."_ He replied with.

"And how will you do that?" She asked once again.

" _I need some paper and a pen."_

(Later that night)

" _I am writing to inform you that-"_

"No, that's too formal." Nick sighed as he scrunched up his eighth piece of paper.

"I thought it would be easier writing a letter than this." He spoke out loud, while massaging his head. Writing a letter was hard work, especially when it had to be perfect. He had to get this done before Eren's trial or he ran the risk of the MP's getting thier dirty hands on him.

"And to think I missed the funeral for this." He sighed once again, he remembered telling Sasha that he wouldn't be there since he had to leave for the Capital to take part in Eren's trial. His trial was the day after tomorrow, so he had to leave tomorrow if he was to attend.

He leaned back into the chair as he examined the room he was in. Thinking that barging into the Garrison HQ behind the inner wall and demanding an office for the night maybe wasn't the best idea. After a short talk with Pixis after barging into his office, he was given someone's office for the night as they had gone home.

"I need to finish this." He then took a breath. "Just think like him, then it should come to me."

He then started to write the letter once again, after proof reading it about seven times and making some minor changes to the grammer, he was finally happy with the end result. He then added the signature at the end of the letter to secure its authenticity.

"Now I just need the seal, I can get that tomorrow." He said as he put the letter to the side as he put his head on the desk. He was extremely tired from the days work cleaning up the streets of Trost. "A few hours of sleep couldn't hurt."

(The next day)

He was jolted awake at the sound of someone jiggling their keys outside the door.

He remembered locking the door so that Pixis couldn't send Anka or Gustav into the room to disturb him, or potentially see what he was up to.

He then stood up and walked to the door, unlocking it as ge got there. He opened the door and came face to face with Captain Weilmann. "Oh, it's you" Nick coldy said at him.

"What the hell are you doing in my office?!" He demanded.

"I'm using it." He replied.

"Who let you in here?!" He angrily asked.

Having had enough of the questioning, he shut the door in his face and started walking back to the desk to retrieve the two letters he had written the night before. Behind him Captain Weilmann had thrust the door open as he was enraged that a cadet had commandeered his office.

"Who the hell let you in here?!" He shouted as he turned Nick around and grabbed his shirt.

Nick's first response to this clear act of aggression was to grab Weilmann's arms and used his strength to twist them, putting him off balance, allowing Nick to use a sweeping leg kick to knock him over.

"I'm not in the mood for you today Weilmann." He stated as he looked down at the very tall man.

Weilmann however couldn't take the hint that Nick may have been allowed in here, so he once again rose to his feet, intent on giving the cadet a taste of how he deals with insubordination.

"Captain Weilmann." A familiar female voice called from the door before he could try anything. "Commander Pixis would prefer if you didn't attack our esteemed guest." She then turned her attention to Nick. "You were supposed to be gone yesterday."

"I was just leaving Anka." He told her after he had picked up the two letters and walked past Weilmann like he hadn't just floored him a second ago.

"Just you wait boy. I'll have you court martialed for this!" Weilmann spat at him.

"Captain Weilmann!" Anka spoke louder this time. "Any attempt from you or any other officer here to court martial this cadet will be blocked by Commander Pixis."

Witt that Nick left the room, with Anka following closely behind him, leaving Weilmann behind to ponder his own thoughts.

"You were supposed to leave yesterday." Anka stated.

"I fell asleep." He replied.

"Why did you demand an office? That was extremely disrespectful to the Commander." She told him.

"It needed to be done. I had to do something very important." Came his reply.

"What was so important that you barge into my superiors office and demand the use of a private office?" She asked him as they turned a corner that led to the exit.

"I assume you're attending Eren Yeager's trial tomorrow." She responded with a nod. "You'll see at the trial what I was doing." He said as he walked out the building so he could leave for Mitras.

(The next day, Courthouse, Royal Capital)

There was fifteen minutes until the trial began, when he reached Mitras he made a quick stop at his home to grab something before he went to the barracks to sleep.

However, he wasn't attending the trial as a cadet, rather he was attending as a noble, hence the suit he was wearing for the trial. He was in a private room in the courthouse, preparing for the trial that would determine the fate of humanity. He was dressed in a white shirt with black trousers and a black suit jacket, he didn't wear a tie because he didn't like the constriction around his neck.

" _It all hinges on this plan I have, hopefully the Scouts don't have a plan that goes against mine. They must have a plan, not like the shitty MP. Trying to dissect him. Bastards."_ He was brought out of his thoughts by a knock at the door.

"Come in." He called out.

"Sir, it's time for you to enter the courtroom." One of the Interior MP's told him. He didn't bother to learn his name yet, but he was loyal to his family, so he gained Nick's respect.

"Is she in position?" He asked.

"Yes Sir." The MP responded.

"And the letter to my father?"

"It should arrive in a few minutes Sir." The MP responded once again.

"Alright, lets do this." He said to himself as he left the private room to make his way to the courtroom.

Once he entered he notice that the Scouts were on the left side while the Military Police were on the right, he also noticed one of the wall cultists and Commander Pixis with Anka and Gustav in tow.

He walked to the left side alongside Armin, while Mikasa was on his left with Rico next to her.

"What's with the suit?" Armin asked him. "Where's your uniform?" He asked another question, not waiting for Nick to reply to the first.

"I'm not here as a soldier." He simply responded with.

About ten minutes later the doors to the courtroom were opened as Eren was shown inside by Mike and Hange.

He was then shoved forward and put on his knees as the put a pole behind him to keep him in place.

Then a door from behind the podium opened, revealing the judge that would decide Eren's fate. " _Darius Zackly."_ Nick thought. " _I hope he believes it, because if he doesn't I'll be in huge shit. Well I'll be in trouble either way, it just depends who grills me for this."_

Zackly sat down and arranged some papers before he started to speak. "You are Eren Yeager, correct."

"Yes Sir." Eren responded.

"And as a soldier you have pledged your life for the good of mankind." Zackly tried to confirm.

"Yes sir." Eren responded once again.

"This is an exceptional case, so normal law cannot be applied here, so instead ths will be a Miltary Tribunal to decide your fate. I will have complete authority over your fate, this includes whether you live or die, do you have any objections?" Zackly asked.

"No Sir." Eren responded, slightly down at the thought of him being killed.

"Good to see you understand. Now, lets hear the proposal of the Military Police first." He said as he gestured to his left.

"Thank you sir." A black haired man said. "I am Nile Dok, Commander of the Military Police, we hereby propose that after a thourough examination of Eren Yeager's body and his abilities that he be disposed of and be commemorated as a fallen hero of humanity." He then looked at his notes once again. "While I admit that his ability did help in the recent retake of the Trost District, his mere existence is akready causing civil unrest to break out because of the uncertain nature surrounding his abilities."

"Unacceptable!" The pastor shouted. "This vile fiend has defiled the almighty wall, he should-"

"Silence yourself Pastor Nick!" Zackly demanded, regaining control of the trial. "We are trying to keep this organised, another outburst from you and I will have you thrown out. Understood?"

"Y- Yes your honour." The pastor stuttered out.

"Now we will hear from the Survey Corps." He said, turning to face Commander Erwin.

"Thank you Sir, I am Erwin Smith, thirteenth Commander of the Survey Corps, we propose that Eren Yeager be inducted as a full member of the Scouts, and we use his ability to retake Wall Maria. That is all."

"Is that it?" Zackly questioned.

"Yes, I belive that with his Titan ability we can successfully seal the breach, this is where our priorities should be." Erwin stated.

"Very bold." Zackly stated. "But where would you launch this operation from? Commander Pixis, the breach in Trost has been conpletely sealed, is that correct?"

"Yes. I doubt it's gate will ever open again." Pixis replied.

"We will depart from the Karanes District to the east." Erwin explained. "From there we can move towards Shiganshina. A new route can be established if-"

"That's preposterous!" One of the merchants shouted scross the courtroom. "Our time and money would be better spent sealing the gates. There the only parts on the wall the Colossal Titan can break right? So why dont we do that and finish with this affair."

"Shut up you merchant dog!" One of the scouts shouted. "With this ability we can finally retake Wall Maria."

"We can't afford anymore childish antics or delusions of grandeur!" The same merchant shot back.

"Squealing louder won't help your case, pig." Levi interjected. "While we're bolstering our defenses, do you think the Titans are going to stand idly by? And when you say "we", are you speaking for anyone besides than you and your other fat merchant friends?"

"Order!" Zackly shouted while slamming his hand on the desk multiple times. "Save your quarrels for anothe time, we must get back to the matter at hand." He stated while turning to look at Eren.

"Mr. Yeager, as a soldier you have made a solemn pledge to answer humanity's call! Can you still serve by controlling your ability?"

"Yes Sir, I will." Eren responded confidently.

"Really?" Zackly asked rather skeptically. "But according to this report, shortly after transforming for a third time you attempted to crush Mikasa Ackerman."

Eren looked horrified at this revelation as he looked over to Mikasa, he cleary didn't remember that happening.

"Is Mikasa Ackerman here?" Zackly asked.

"Yes Sir." She answered after raising her hand.

"Is it true that Eren Yeager tried to assaukt you while in Titan form?" He asked.

Rico whispered something to Mikasa before replying. "Yes Sir, but prior to that, he saved me twice using his abilities! Once when I was about to be attacked, and then again when we were about to be shot with a cannon. I'd like for you to take that into consideration."

"Objection!" Nile shouted. "We have reason to believe that Mikasa Ackerman's testimony is biased."

"Really, how so?" Zackly asked.

"Mikasa Ackerman was adopted by the Yeager family after her parents deaths, after this we launched a full investigation into the matter and found something rather disturbing." Nile stated.

"What did you find?" Zackly asked, eager to know if it made Eren a threat or not.

"At the tender age if nine, Eren Yeager and Mikasa Ackerman brutally stabbed three kidnappers, granted it was in self defense, but what does this say about his character?" Nile asked the judge. "Can we really invest the time and money into him despite what he has done in the past."

" _What the fuck is taking so long?"_ Nick angrily thought. " _If she's late I'll make her clean the whole house with her tongue and her spit."_

"Hold on just a moment Nile." Zackly spoke. "Is there a Nicholas Meier here?" He asked.

"Yes." He said as he raised his hand.

Zackly ignored the fact he hadn't used "Sir" or "Your honour" to adress him. "You were there when Mr Yeager attacked Mikasa Ackerman, is that true." Zackly asked.

"I will respectfully use my rights as a citizen of the Inner District to not answer any of the questions you ask me that I do not want to." Nick told him.

"Well then, thats rather disappointing. Now if the Survey Corps were to gain custody of Mr Yeager, what guarantee do we have that he can be controlled?" Zackly asked to Erwin.

" _She is late, she's gonna be scrubbing my room everyday for the rest of her life."_ Nick thought.

Just as Captain Levi hopped over the railing and kicked Eren across the face, causing his tooth to fly out. The door to the courtroom burst open, revealing a female member if the Interior MP's.

"Premier Zackly!" She called out. "I have a message regarding Eren Yeager from the Royal Assembly!"

A few of the merchants gasped while the scouts held their breath, waiting to see what the message says.

She walked up, handed the letter to Zackly and walked back, casting a glance at Nick who mouthed the word "Late" to her.

As Zackly read the letter, he was surprised by its contents, the Royal Government didn't usually involve themselves in matters deemed as beliw them, but this case was unprecedented a few days ago so he understood.

"What does it say Sir?" Erwin asked as Levi had made his way back next to him.

"It says here that Eren Yeager is to be transferred to the Survey Corps until after the next expedition and to be put under the watch of Captain Levi since he is labelled as "Humanities Strongest", it was signed by the head of the Royal Assembly and has the Royal Seal on the envelope and the letter. So Eren Yeager is officially transferred to the Survey Corps." Zackly said as he slammed the gavel onto the desk, signalling the end of the trial.

(20 minutes later)

He gad been summoned to meet Commander Erwin, Section Commanders Hange and Mike, and also Captain Levi. Once he entered the room Levi wasted no time asking the all important question.

"How did you get your old man to write that letter?"

"He didn't." He replied, getting confused looks from Mike and Hange, "I wrote that letter, I forged my fathers signature and stole the Royal Seal from his office when I arrived last night."

"What happens when Zackly finds out about this?" Levi finally asked a few moments later.

"He won't." Nick stated.

"How can you be so sure? It's been years since the Royal Government got involved in anything, Zackly will get suspicious." Erwin told him, keeping his calm demeanour.

"Yeah!" Hange exclaimed. "We had a plan in place and when Zackly finds out he'll revoke our custody of Eren."

"He wont find out." Nick reassured. "My father may be head of the Royal Assembly, but he would do anything for his family, even covering for us on this matter."

"How can you be so sure?" Levi asked.

"I sent him a letter detailing what I did, so he most likely has been to the Assembly to explain "his" actions already."

"If this falls apart, I'm blaming you!" Levi stated, while attempting to bore holes into him with his gaze.

There was then a knock on the door as an MP stepped in.

"Nicholas Meier, your father has requested to see you."


	18. Eve of the Counter-Attack : Part Two

"That kid is incredibly stupid." Levi pointed out after Nick left the room to meet with his father.

"He's not a kid Levi. I read his file, he was the oldest in the 104th Cadet Corps." Mike pointed out.

"He's not stupid." Erwin stated. "In fact, I think he understands the importance of Eren Yeager in our plans to take back Wall Maria."

"But he interfered in our plan by forging a letter from the Royal Assembly." Hange pointed out.

"Yes, he did. But he did it to ensure that we gained custody of Eren for the time being." Erwin countered.

"And if Zackly finds out?" Levi asked, skeptical of whether or not the truth will come out.

"I have faith that it won't. We'll just have to trust that Meier is right about his father taking the fall for this." Erwin replied.

"Tch, doubt it. But if you say so." Levi stated.

"Now then Levi, you should get Eren and head out to the old castle, Hange will be along later tonight." Erwin told him.

"Whatever." Levi said as he then left the room to take Eren to the old Survey Corps base.

"Something on your mind Erwin?" Mike asked him.

"Yes. When the new recruits arrive at the castle, Meier will be placed into your squad for the upcoming expedition Hange. If he joins up that is." Erwin told them.

"Why? If I may ask?" She asked him.

"I also read his file, and the reports of the two Battles for Trost." Erwin told them.

"So? What does that have to do with it?" Mike asked.

"Shadis' evaluation said that he was one of the smartest and the most perceptive in his class." Erwin explained to them.

"Yes, I also read that, but he ranked 39th, what makes you think he has the credentials to join Hange on the expedition?" Mike asked, also skeptical of his abilities.

"Because he has the highest confirmed kill count among his classmates. Even Commander Pixis vouched for him when I spoke to him before the trial." Erwin explained to them.

"Are you sure Erwin? How do we know he isn't working with the enemy?" Hange asked.

"Because I met him before the Colossal and Armoured Titans appeared five years ago." Erwin told them. "Make sure you prepare your squad for the new arrival Hange." Erwin said as he left the room, leaving Mike and Hange alone.

"You might have to warn your squad about him joining, especially Nifa." Mike said once Erwin had left.

"What do you mean Mike?" Hange asked him, confused by his suggestion.

"I'm not gay." Mike stated. "But even I have to admit that Meier is some serious eye candy, and he's still a teenager, you know how hormones can be and all." He told her.

"Please. I'm sure Nifa wouldn't do something like that, especially with a rookie." Hange told him. "Besides what about Nanaba and Lynne, both our squads will be working together on the next expedition." She told him.

Mike ignored her comment about the female members of his squad, he trusted them to not fuck a rookie before the expedition.

"I better not be able to smell the scent of sex on him or Nifa then." Mike stated.

"Are you sure he would let you close enough to even sniff him? From what I heard, he's quite formidable at armed and unarmed combat." Hange told him.

"I don't need to be that close to smell sex hormones, I've been past many brothels, and they reek." Mike replied.

"Right then, I'm off to inform Moblit and the rest of my squad before heading to the castle tonight. Maybe Eren will be interested in some of my experiments." Hange wandered out loud.

"Remember, I'll be sniffing around your squad to make sure." Mike reminded.

"Very funny Mike." Hange said as she left the room to inform her squad of their potential new arrival.

" _Hmm, I wonder what a noble smells like, I've never sniffed one up close before."_ Mike mused to himself as he left the room shortly after Hange had.

(Meier Family Estate)

"You asked to see me." Nick stated as he walked into his father's office.

"Where is it?" His father asked, his voice laced with anger. "I know it was you who took it."

Nick then pulled something from his pocket and placed it onto the desk, revealing it to be the Royal Seal used to mark documents from the Royal Government. "Here it is." He said.

"Do you even realise what you just did!?" His father shoued, his voice seething with anger.

"I gave us hope." He simply answered.

"I don't give a shit about that titan boy!" His father declared. "You put me under intense scrutiny from the rest of the Assembly, they were asking questions about what I was thinking after I covered for you in front of them."

"What did they ask?"

"They asked why I wrote that letter you wrote." He said.

"What did you say?" Nick asked.

"They initially thought it was you. But I managed to convince them that I did it so that the public wouldn't seem suspicious of us. I argued that giving the titan boy a chance was the best option to keep public opinion up." His father explained.

"So why did you ask to see me if you dealt with it?" Nick asked him after a few seconds.

"Because I don't think Rod bought it." He told him. "I think he suspects that it was you that wrote the letter."

"What's he going to do?" Nick asked.

"Nothing right now, I think he's waiting to see if that boy has the Founding Titan." His father explained.

"But who would he give it to, he doesn't have any children after they were all killed, and I doubt he would take it after what happened to Uri and Frieda." Nick told him, avoiding Historia completely.

"That's not true and you know it. He has an illegitimate daughter, and she was in your Cadet class."

"You know about her?" He asked.

"Yes. Five years ago the Assembly agreed that she was a problem since she was born out of wedlock so-" His father started only to be interrupted.

"You were the one that sent Kenny Ackerman after her and her mother." He explained.

"How do you know about that?" His fathers tone changed suddenly, now more concerned.

"She told me two years ago when I figured out her identity. And I will say this." He started. "If Kenny Ackerman or that bitch Traute Carven come after her they'll have to deal with me first."

"That's the problem, you'll get killed if you go up against them!" His father exclaimed.

"No I won't, I'm better than them, they may have the anti-personal manoeuvre gear, but I have the skill required to beat them." Nick told his father.

"You ranked at thirty nine Nick. Thirty nine, they'll kill you without mercy if you oppose them." His father protested, looking worried at his son.

"Rank means nothing when I didn't attempt to get the top ten. I did that so Historia could choose her own path, not be forced to do something she didn't want to do. Again." He told him.

His father massaged his forehead. "If you pull another stunt like this Rod will send them." His father warned.

"Kenny isn't loyal to Rod, he's only after the power the Reiss family inherits." Nick explained. "And Traute and the rest are loyal to Kenny, so they will follow him on his stupid quest for the god like power the Reiss family inherits."

"If you were killed I would never forgive myself." His father told him.

"It wouldn't be your fault." Nick told him. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to see mom and the sister I was never told about." Nick said with an accusing tone is his voice.

"If you must." His father said, indicating for Nick to leave.

As Nick left the room he closed the door behind him and made his way downstairs where his mother was waiting to introduce him to the sister she had while he was in the cadets. Surprisingly he hadn't been about his sibling, despite her being over 1 year old. He initially thought that she was an insurance policy, in case he died during his training, but he was sure that his mother knew better than that, and that she had actually wanted a second child.

"Hello Nick." His mother greeted him very formally.

"Hi mom." He replied.

After a moment of silence he spoke up again. "Are you going to introduce me or not?" He asked.

"Right of course." She said as she picked up the little girl next to her. "This is Rachel, she's your little sister."

"I had gathered that by looking at her. She looks like you." He commented.

"Whoz zat mommy?" Rachel asked, while pointing at Nick.

"That's your big brother sweetie. Remember he's the one I told you about." She told the girl in her arms.

"Can I hold her?" Nick suddenly asked.

"Yeah, sure, you know how to right?" She asked as she handed her over to him. He held her up with his right arm while he offered his left hand for her to play with.

Rachel eagerly took his index finger and started to play with it while he talked to his mother.

"How have you been the past three years?" Nick asked.

"It was... hard at the beginning, letting you go join the military, the Assembly were heavily against it but your father somehow convinced them, saying it would improve relations with the public if a Sina resident was to sign up." She told him. "I was worried about you, a lot, I kept dreaming about you dying in some freak accident or something." She admitted to him. "But your father reminded me of the power in your blood, saying you could handle yourself if the need arose, so that calmed my nerves a bit. But I missed you, a lot, so much that I started to get lonely without you here to keep me company."

"Is that why you had Rachel?" He asked.

"Partly. The other reason was that I wanted you to have another reason to come home to us, I thought that if you had a sibling, that you wouldn't join the Scouts at graduation." She explained to him.

"Mom." He started and then sighed. "I'm not going to die out there. I'll always come back." He proclaimed. "I promise I will."

"Don't make promises like this lightly, you never know what you could encounter outside the walls." She told him.

"I know, but I'll still come home. After seeing her, I couldn't do that to her." He said while looking at his sister, she was biting his finger now.

"Well since you're here, is there anything you would like to tell me about your last three years?" She asked, softly smiling at the interaction between the two newly aquainted siblings.

"Well, where should I start? I assume you heard about the failed training exercise." When he saw his mother nod he continued. "Well I found out that Frieda and Florian had a half sister."

"I know about that, your father told me, he said you would see the resemblance as soon as you saw her." She stated.

"Yeah, she looks like Frieda, except she's shorter and has blonde hair."

"What else happened?" She asked.

"There is another Ackerman in my class." He told her.

"What!?" His mother asked, in shock that there were more Ackerman's in the walls.

"Thats not all, she's also an oriental."

"Then she would be the only one of her kind." His mother surmised.

"Yeah, she told me her mother was a "pure oriental" and that her parents were murdered when she was nine." He told her.

"That's... awful... does she-" His mother started, only to be cut off by Nick.

"Yes she does, she finished top of the class." He explained to her, noticing that his sister had now fallen asleep in his arm, leaning her head against his shoulder.

"She likes you." His mother stated, seeing her daughter asleep now. "I told her about you, I can tell she adores you already."

"How so?" He asked.

"Your name was her second word, after mom of course, but she always brightens up when I mention you to her." She explained. "I wouldn't know what to tell her if you died."

"I'm not going to die out there." He proclaimed once again.

"Please don't, for her sake if not mine." His mother pleaded. "I'll take her to bed, it's getting late." She offered.

"It's alright mom, I'll take her." He offered, wanting to put her to bed.

"It's the room across from yours." His mother told him, the smile from before still on her face.

Once he had reached her room he opened the door and saw her crib in the far corner of the room, he walked over and gently set his little sister down while putting a small blanket over her body.

"It's okay Rachel." He whispered. "I'll always be here to make sure nothing happens to you, I hope you never awaken your powers, I never want you to go through that process."

He then turned around and closed the door as quietly as possible to avoid waking her.

"You're so cute with her love, you know that right?" Frieda suddenly said to him.

" _If you say so."_ He replied.

"I'm being serious, you would make a great parent one day." She told him.

" _You really think so_?" He asked.

"Yeah!" She agreed rather excitedly. "You would be that overprotective parent that lets nothing happen to their kid without you knowing about it."

" _But who would I have a kid with?"_ He asked.

"A women obviously." She answered as if it was the easiest question in the world.

" _What about you?"_ He asked her.

"It doesn't matter about me." She responded with.

" _Why don't you matter in this?"_ He asked.

"Because I know that you hate that you can't hold me, or you can't kiss me when you're awake, that you have to keep me a secret from everybody else. Don't get me wrong I do love you, but I want you to be happy Nick." She told him.

" _But I am happy with you."_ He explained to her, hoping she would see that he was.

"You might be, but you need to find a girl that you can hold, that you can kiss when you're awake, that you don't have to keep your relationship a secret. You have to do that eventually Nick."

" _But... what about you_?" He asked.

"I'll always be here Nick, but whatever way you look at it, I'm dead, and nothing's going to change that. So for your sake can you at least try to care for another girl. Please." She added at the end to emphasise her words.

" _Okay, I wont promise that I will find another girl, but I will try, okay?"_

"Thank you Nick, now since we're here, you going to show me your room?"

(Two days later)

Earlier that day the two titans that had been captured by the Scouts for Section Commander Hange to experiment on had been killed by an unknown assailant. They had escaped using their gear, so there was an inspection going on today to find out who had killed the two titans.

Nick was at a table next to two cadets he hadn't spoken to before, to his left at the next table was Annie, Armin and Connie, when he glanced over however, he saw what looked to be Armin eyeing the gear that Annie had presented.

" _I'll have to ask him about that, he has a keen eye, might have noticed something."_ He noted to himself.

One of the MP's in charge of the inspection then stepped in front of him before talking to him.

"When was the shaft last replaced?" He asked, quite obviously bored at having to do actual work for once.

"It hasn't been changed since the clean up operation. That was five days ago." Nick replied.

"You're clear." The MP said while noting down something on his clipboard.

Now that he had some time to wait he began thinking about Marco's death, he was certain that he was killed by a titan, but the circumstances didn't add up, so he was now sure that someone had taken his gear and disposed of it. He still hadn't talked to Annie, Reiner or Bertholdt on whether they had seen anything, he still held them as suspects but they didn't fit the profile for it, sure Annie was a bit weird and Mikasa was suspicious of her, but that didn't make her guilty. Reiner was known as the big brother of the group despite being more than a year younger than Nick, he was respected by everyone in their class. Bertholdt was difficult to discern because he could do it all in terms of the physical side of things, but he lacked the mentality to take the initiative, putting him lower on Nick's list of suspicions.

"You know Annie, you're actually nice." Armin stated, gaining Nick's attention.

"Eh?" Annie replied, prompting Armin to continue.

"You actively encourage us to not join the Scouts, because you know what could happen to is out there." Armin explained.

"It took you three years to realise that she actually cares Armin?" Nick asked, it was a sarcastic question, but his tone didn't show it.

"I only care about myself, thats why I'm joining the MP." Annie stated.

" _Yeah right."_ Nick thought.

After the rest of the cadets had been cleared, Nick walked up to Armin to find out why he had been eyeing up the gear Annie had presented.

"Hey Armin." He called out.

"Oh hey Nick, what is it?" Said blonde replied as he turned around.

"You want to tell me why you were inspecting Annie's gear during the inspection?" He asked.

"Uh, I wasn't, what are you talking about?" Armin nervously replied.

"Armin I saw you staring at her gear while it was on the table." Nick told him, his emotionless voice making Armin more nervous.

"Well it's just that... it wasn't her gear she presented." Armin admitted. "I think it was Marco's."

"What makes you think that?" Nick asked after regaining his composure at this revelation which had now put Annie to the top of his suspect list for Marco's death.

"Me and Marco used to fix our gear together, so I recognised all the dents and scratches on it." Armin explained to Nick.

"So... you think she killed the two captured titans." It wasn't a question, it was a statement of fact.

"I... don't want to believe it was her, because I don't know why she would do this." Armin explained, the panic in his voice was evident.

"Armin, if you accuse her of this without being 100% sure, you could ruin her career as a soldier." Nick told him.

"I know that, but what other explanation is there?" Armin asked him.

"There's no evidence to back your claim up Armin." Nick argued back with him, despite believing his claims.

"But-" Armin started only to be cut off.

"We only have your word that the gear she presented is Marco's, and even then your word won't go far against a skilled soldier like her." Nick said.

"What should we do then?" Armin asked, more to himself than to Nick.

"For now... nothing. Not until we get some real evidence, not just some scrapes on the ODM gear." Nick told him.

"Okay then, I trust you Nick."

"Yeah, just don't tell anyone about this, if Jean hears about this it could set him off."

"Okay then. By the way what regiment are you going to join?" Armin asked.

"Scouts." He replied.

"That's stupid." A voice said before Armin could reply, he turned to see Annie walking towards them, he was panicking that Annie had heard them conversing about the gear she presented.

Nick however, talked to her like he hadn't been discussing her potentially killing the two captured titans a few moments ago. "Why is it stupid? Because I want to fight titans? Or is it something else?" He asked her.

"It's stupid because you think that you can beat them just because you have spirit." She explained. "There are plenty of others who thought the same as you, who thought they could change things like you do... but most of them are dead or going to die."

"Optimistic much?" Nick replied.

"Realistic." She countered with.

"And what about Eren? His power gives us a way to seal the breach in Wall Maria." Nick told her.

"You do realise that you will be expected to die for him if you join the Scouts, right?"

"Yes. I understand the risks of what I'm doing, but it's something I want to do." He told her.

"You want to throw your life away?" Annie surmised.

"It's only throwing your life away if you don't achieve anything." Nick countered her statement with.

"The way this world works, you'll never achieve anything like this." Annie said.

"You can drop the act Annie." Nick said.

"What act?" She asked him.

"You don't have to hide the fact that you care, that you try and discourage us from joining the Scouts because you don't want us to die. I saw through it the first day we met." He told her.

"I don't care. I just-" She started only to be cut off by Armin.

"We won't tell anyone that you care about us Annie." Armin tells her.

"Whatever." Annie stated, her usual mood coming back as she left the two to their own devices.

"That was close." Armin exclaimed. "I thought she heard us."

"Maybe she did, but didn't want us to know that she did." Nick guessed. "But it doesn't matter now, come on, the ceremony is in an hour, we need to get ready."

"Right." Armin said, following Nick as he left the area of the inspection building.

(Recruitment Ceremony)

Erwin Smith had just stepped onto the stage in front of where all the cadets who had survived the Battle of Trost in one piece had been gathered.

"Good evening." He politely greeted. "I am Erwin Smith, 13th Commander of the Survey Corps, also known as the Scouting Regiment." He told them, in case they didn't know who he was. "Today is the day you will choose your regiments. He explained.

"Let's not beat around the bush, the Scouts need you, all the warm bodies we can get. After the recent Titan attack, you now know firsthand the horror of which they are capable…as well as the limits of your own skill. However, this battle's aftermath gave humanity a big chance for victory. I refer to Eren Yeager. After selflessly risking life and limb, he has proven beyond a doubt his unwavering loyalty to our cause. Hope live in him. Eren didn't just help deter the Titan invasion; he's offered us a means to discern the truth of their origin."

" _What!?"_ Nick thought.

"It must be something from his father, he said he wasn't from the walls." Frieda explained.

Erwins statement of learning the truth of the titans caused a large amount of whispers to go on, learnig the truth about the titans could lead to their destruction was what some of the cadets were thinking.

" _Not when the monarchy is in place."_ Nick thought.

"Intel suggests that that the cellar of Eren Yeager's home in Shiganshina holds a vital secret regarding our enemy. We will form an expedition to find this secret. We find it, and use it to break free of the Titans' tyrannical hundred-year reign once and for all."

" _But why are we departing from Karanes? Shouldn't we just hoist the horses over the wall at Trost and make a straight shot at Shiganshina through the night when the titans are least active. What's he playing at?"_ Nick thought.

"Before we can reach the aforementioned cellar in Shiganshina," he continued, "Another problem must be dealt with. We must retake Wall Maria. Of course, this is much easier said than done"

Erwin then made a signal and then Mike and another Scout came out holding a rather large map for all the cadets to see.

"Now that the gate in Trost has been rendered inaccessible, we'll be forced to stage future operations from the Karanes District further east. Thus, the battalion route we've been establishing is now completely useless to us." Erwin explained to the confused cadets.

" _Why is he telling us this, shouldn't he be explaining this once we... Oh, he's figured it out."_ Nick realised.

"Figured what out love?" Frieda asked.

" _He's figured out that the traitors are within the soldiers standing here, right now."_ Nick explained to her.

"But who could they be?" Frieda asked once again.

" _That, I don't know, Annie could potentially be one, but she didn't really talk with much people apart from Mina, Eren and me. Mina is dead, so it's not her, and it's definitely not me or Eren, so we'll have to see."_

"Over the course of those four years, we've incurred losses in an excessive sixty percent. Sixty percent in four years! That's a horrifying figure. A month from now, we will conduct a recon mission outside the Walls. Recruits among your ranks will be expected to take part. I estimate a third of them will die. After four years, most will be dead." Erwin continued on with.

After those words the cadets went from being hopeful about the future to just plain terrified after being given a dose of the reality of being a Scout.

"But those who endure will amongst the most capable soldiers alive," Erwin assured. "Now having heard this dismal state of affairs, whoever still wishes to put their life on the line and join us…remain here. But first, ask yourself: can you give your heart? Can you give everything for humanity!?"

" _Wow, he's certainly not holding back, it's like he's trying to scare them off, or he only wants those totally dedicated to the cause. Well played Erwin."_ Nick thought.

"That is all." Erwin finished. "Those who want to join other regiments are dismissed."

And just like that, most of the two hundred plus cadets started to file out, only leaving a select few. Annie was among the first to leave, passing by Nick as she left, he saw her eyes glance over to him for a second before going back to her usual expression.

After the rest had left the ones Nick recognised that stayed were Armin, Mikasa, Reiner, Bertholdt, Ymir, Krista, Sasha, Connie and surprisingly Jean. Nick didn't know that he had changed his mind about the MP's.

"I ask you," Erwin said. "If you were ordered to die, could you do it?"

"We don't want to die, Sir!" Jean shouted back at the Commander.

A small smile appeared on the Commander's face. "Of course. Let us hope that you don't, then. You who stayed? You are now one of us! Allow me to welcome you to the Scout Regiment! This is a genuine salute, soldiers!" He then firmly saluted towards them. "Together, we give our hearts!"

All of the 18 cadets left behind all saluted back at him. Showing him their respect towards him as Commander.

"Joining the Scouts." Jean muttered. "This is so stupid."

"Oh man, what the hell?" Connie asked to himself.

"I just want to go home." Sasha cried out, tears in the corner of her eyes.

Krista was crying softly to herself beside Ymir who decided to offer her some helpful advice. "If you're gonna keep crying, then just leave."

"Those of you standing here have worked through your fear," Erwin stated to them all. "You have proven yourselves courageous. Each one of you has my respect."

" _Now that I'm a Scout, I can finally fight for freedom from these walls, and nothing will stop me from fighting until we take back this Island from the Titans grasp."_


	19. Eve of the Counter-Attack : Part Three

(31 days to the expedition)

The fresh recruits that had stayed behind to join the Survey Corps were woken at 6 AM by Section Commander Ness, they were then told to make their way to the carts stationed outside after getting dressed so they could make the journey to the old Scouts HQ, now being used so Eren could be safely secured until the upcoming expedition.

Nick had a feeling that the enemy would make their move during the expedition, it all came down to Commander Erwin and if he had the resources to capture them. Because Nick was convinced that the expedition was a trap for the traitors, it couldn't be anything else, unless Erwin just felt like telling the recruits every detail of their plan, whether they joined or not.

He wasn't sure who the enemy actually was, despite having evidence that Annie had killed the two captured titans using Marco's gear, which was removed from his body by force, not being chewed on like the poor boy was, Nick was having a hard time believing that it was here, sure she isolated herself during training, but that either meant that she wasn't working with the Colossal and Armoured Titans, or she was smart enough to avoid them to not arouse suspicion if one of them were found out. He dismissed that idea, surely she wasn't smart enough to do that.

They could see the castle in the distance, it was rather large amd out if the way. " _Perfect place to hide a secret weapon."_ Nick thought, thinking about how Eren had been treated since he was taken here a few days ago. Once they got up close to the castle he could see the intricate stonework that was used to build the castle. He also noted it was surprisingly clean for bit having been used for some years, with there being little to no vegetation crawling up the side of the building. " _Did they clean the outside of the castle?"_ He asked himself.

Once they had reached the castle they were told to get off the carts and were given their new uniform, the brown cropped jacked with the wings of freedom on the back. They were also given a cape with a hood that was to be worn on expeditions in case it started to rain.

"Listen up." The man with the white bandana that woke them up earlier in the day said. "I'm Section Commander Ness, but before we get started, is there a Nicholas Meier here?" He asked, catching Nick off guard.

"Yes Sir." He responded while raising his hand, indicating that it was him that Ness sought.

"You are to report to Section Commander Hange, you're gonna be a part of her squad, she should be in her office so off you go." He dismissed him while turning his attention to the other recruits left there.

As he left in search of Hange's office he couldn't help but wander why he was put in her squad. " _Why would I be put with her? I wonder if it was her or Erwin who made the decision?"_ He asked to himself, hoping Hange didn't request him just because he gave her his cadet jacke that was practically soaked in titan guts.

It was then that he realised that he had no idea where he was going and probably looked like an idiot while walking around the castle. " _That's what I get for not asking for directions."_ He scolded himself. " _What an idiot I am."_

He was then brought out of his thoughts when he heard a yelp as he accidentally walked into someone, sending them to the floor while he stood still above them. He looked down to see a woman with short blonde hair rubbing her head as she seemed to have hit it when she fell.

"Sorry." He said as he offered her his hand to help her up.

"It's fine." She said as she accepted his hand, him hauling her up rather quickly in the process. "Just watch where you're going next time." She said as she released his hand and began to walk past him before he stopped her.

"Wait, do you know where Section Commander Hange's office is?" He asked, not wanting to waste any more time looking for it.

"Why you looking for her? Shouldn't you be with Ness?" She asked him, raising her eyebrow at him.

"I was assigned to Section Commander Hange." He told her.

"Ah, so you're the "eye candy" that Mike talked about." She stated, eyeing him from top to bottom, and she had to admit, he was extremely attractive.

"He called me eye candy?" Nick asked, slightly creeped out that Mike had called him that.

"Follow me." She told him, ignoring his question about what Mike called him. "I'm Nanaba by the way." She told him after he started to follow her down the corridor.

They had barely spoken a word on the way to Hange's office except for when they exchanged names with each other.

"Here it is." Nanaba stated, as she stopped at the door at the end of the hallway.

"Thanks." He told her, grateful that she showed him the way.

"Calm down Hange!" A voice shouted from inside the room just as Nick was about to knock.

"Good luck." Nanaba said as she walked away, leaving him on his own outside the door of the crazy titan lady as he liked to call her in his head.

"Hange, you're making a mess!" A different voice called out, female this time.

He then proceeded to knock on the door three times, loud enough so that anyone on the inside could hear despite the sounds coming from inside the room.

The door opened, revealing the crazy titan lady herself. "Nick, it's good to see you, I assume you're here for the introduction right?" She asked.

"Section Commander Ness told me to come here." He bluntly replied, his voice sharing none of the enthusiasm that hers did.

"Such a buzzkill, you sound like Levi." She stated, opening the door wider to reveal a man with brown hair and a woman with reddish brown hair, both of them looking at him.

"This is Moblit, he's my assistant." Hange stated while pointing at the man. "And this is Nifa." She told him, pointing at the woman. "You can meet the rest later, but since Nifa is the only qualified combat medic on the squad, she'll be doing your medical examination. Now." She told them.

"Why do I need a medical examination?" Nick asked, doubting that he actually needed one.

"When was the last time you had one?" Hange retorted. She had him there, the last one was when he joined up when he was fifteen.

"Exactly." She said, taking his silence as his answer. "Nifa, take him to the infirmary for his check up."

He could have sworn that he saw his commanding officer wink to Nifa as they left the room for the infirmary. They arrived at the infirmary with Nifa going into the cabinet to search for a stethoscope and a clipboard to write down the results on to.

"Right, so when was the last time you had a medical check up." She asked after he had sat down on one of the beds in the infirmary, they were all free so he just sat down at the nearest one.

"When we signed up over three years ago." He replied truthfully, there was no use in lying to her since they were going to be squad mates.

"Okay then, first I'll need to take your height and weight since it will have changed since then." She explained. "You'll need to take off your boots." She told him, gesturing to the height scale on the wall for him to stand next to. He stood next to the scale while she touched the top of his head with her pencil, having to stand on her toes lightly to reach.

"Okay, one eighty two." She said, writing it down onto her clipboard. "Okay now I need you to remove your harness, jacket and shirt so I can get an accurate measurement for your weight." She told him once he stepped away from the wall.

He sighed in annoyance, this was going to take a while. He did as he was asked, removing the clothes from his upper body, revealing his very muscled torso for Nifa to gawk at while he wasn't looking. His face and lower arms were slightly tanned while his chest, abdomen and upper arms were quite pale, almost a milky white in comparison to his face.

He then stepped onto the scale, waiting for Nifa to tell him that he was finished so that he could step off.

"Okay, that's just over seventy nine kilos. You can step off the scale now." She told him, but right at that moment someone decided to walk into the infirmary. The door opened to reveal a short woman with orange hair walking in, then stopping at the sight in front of her.

When Petra had walked into the infirmary for a few bandages because Eren had somehow cut himself while using the broom to sweep the stables, what she didn't expect to see was Nifa standing there with one of the new recruits she saw earlier with no shirt on.

"Uhh... hi Nifa." She akwardly managed to get out while Nifa's face flushed red with embarrassment.

"It's not what it looks like Petra." She quickly answered back.

"I never said it looked like anything." Petra replied with a smile on her face.

"It was just a medical check up that Hange ordered me to carry out on our new quad member." She replied, her face still red from the embarrassment.

" _Strange, we never usually do those."_ Petra thought, before dismissing it because Hange could be a bit weird sometimes.

"I remember you from the trial, me and the rest of the Levi squad were upstairs watching." She told him. "Why weren't you in uniform like the other cadets were?" She then asked as he put his shirt back on.

"I didn't go to the trial as a cadet, I went as a citizen of the Inner District." He casually replied.

"Uhh Nick... you'll need to take your shirt off again so I can take your heart rate." Nifa managed to get out without stuttering.

He sighed again, this was so pointless, he saw Nifa glancing at him earlier which had made him think about what Frieda had said about finding a girl that he cared about that was actually living and not in his head, and now he could see the other woman, Petra blatantly staring at him. " _Dont they know it's rude to stare_!" He thought to himself.

He then felt Nifa put the stethoscope to the left side of his chest as she pretended to look at the pocket watch she had in her hand while she was still glancing over to his abdomen.

"Fourty seven, fourty eight, fourty nine." She finished with at the pocket watch made a full rotation on its face with the second hand.

"That's quite low." Petra commented from the cabinet after she had managed to find some bandages.

"People with lower resting heart rates tend to be more physically fit." Nifa explained as she jotted down the heart rate. "Now I'll need your working heart rate." She told him.

" _Such bullshit."_ He thought. " _Hange and Mike definitely did this on purpose."_

Nifa then had him do exercises such as push ups to try and increase his heart rate, and the best way to do that was to make him tired and sweat a bit. Although it was getting a bit boring after he had done over 150 push ups in the past 5 minutes without slowing down.

Petra on the other hand was enjoying the show, despite the fact she should have left a few minutes ago, she was quite relieved that she could be free of Olou and his Captain Levi act for the time being.

"Go faster." Nifa commanded, using hee superior rank to her advantage. He obliged, speeding up his push up rate, almost going twice as fast as before. He had slmost reached four hundred and fifty before he gave up trying and told them he was tired.

She then took his heart rate which was surprisingly low at 134 for having done over 400 pushups in less that eleven minutes.

After he had put his shirt back on and put his harness back on, petra left as another man wearing goggles entered the room.

"Hey Abel." She greeted the man.

"Hi Nifa." He replied. "Commander Erwin sent me, he wants to talk to him." He said while pointing at Nick.

"Well I'm done here, so he can go." She told him as Nick finished putting his jacket on.

"Follow me." Abel instructed as he left the room, heading towards Commander Erwin's office with the rookie in tow.

He then stopped at a door with the label "Commander" on the front, he knocked on the door which was then followed by a "send him in" from the inside.

The door opened revealing Commander Erwin, Mike, Hange and Captain Levi inside the office. Erwin was sitting in the chair behind the desk, Levi was leaning on the wall next to Mike while Hange sat in a chair off to the side.

"Sit down." Erwin said. "We have something we need to discuss." He plainly said as the door was closed behind Nick, leaving the five in the room on their own.

(23 days to the expedition)

" _How does that midget do it?"_ Nick inwardly questioned after another failed attempt at recreating Captain Levi's spinning attack he had seen him use from a distance back after Eren had sealed the breach in Trost.

" _Am I just too tall?"_ He asked himself. " _Or maybe it's the way I hold the blades?"_ He asked, struggling to explain why he wasn't able to do it.

"Why are you so insistent on trying that move?" Frieda asked him.

" _Because it could seriously help when taking on the titans."_ He replied to her.

"He is labeled as "Humanities Strongest", there's not much you can do if you compare yourself to him." She told him.

" _You're right, but how is he so good? Unless..."_

"Unless what?" Frieda asked, now confused.

" _Unless he's an awakened Ackerman, that would explain a lot, especially his skill with the ODM gear."_

"But he doesn't have a last name, how would you know he is one." Frieda stated.

" _The power doesn't come from the name Frieda. It comes from the blood in the veins."_ He told her.

"I know that, but still, you can't go around assuming that he is one because he is better than you."

" _You're right, I can't assume that, I know that he is, it's the only explanation, plus his eyes and hair are the same as Mikasa and my mothers."_

"But your eyes are green, and your hair is brown." Frieda countered with.

" _I don't know why that is, but I still have the awakened power, so maybe it's from my fathers side."_ He countered back at her.

"Hey!" A voice called out from above. "Why are you so persistent on learning how to attack like that."

Nick turned to the voice to see Captain Levi standing on another branch just above him. "It seems like it would come in handy on the battlefield." He cooly replied with.

"I would suggest doing it properly, the way you do it hurts my eyes." Levi replied with, the insult not having an effect on Nick.

"Any tips?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, get better." Levi told him.

"Sounds like you don't like me." Nick stated.

"Thats because I know you're up to something, thats the whole reason for being here, isn't it?" Levi stated as he joined Nick on the lower branch.

"Really?" He asked sarcastically. "What am I up to then?"

"You expect me to know that?" The Captain rhetorically asked.

"No. But I'll tell you if you give me some tips." Nick told him.

"Fine." Levi agreed to the compromise. "You're forcing the spin too much when you slash, it has to be more natural." Levi stated.

"Hmm." Nick mused, wondering if he was actually being given useful advice. "Let me try it out first." Nick suggested as he launched off the branch, searching for a dummy titan to practice on. He came across one that was raised in front of him, he shifted slightly, changing his grip on his right handle as he he spun, not forcing it too much as Levi told him to, he reached the dummy titan as he finished his first rotation, giving him even more speed as he slashed the nape, cleanly cutting to the base of the nape.

" _Looks like the midget's advice paid off."_ Nick mused to himself.

"That was marginally better, enough to be less of a pain on my vision." Levi coldly told him. "Now spill it." He then demanded.

"I'm planning to fight for our freedom, that's all."

"What?" Levi growled out. "That's not an answer, give me your real reason for being here."

"Sorry Captain, but you're not my superior, Nifa is, and even then Section Commander Hange is her superior, so you can't order me like you can with Eren." He said right before he shot off further into the forest leaving Levi behind.

"Shitty brat." Levi growled out. "He better hope he doesn't get anyone killed with his plan." He said to himself as he shot off in the other direction, he was supposed to be watching Eren after all.

(11 days to the expedition)

" _Ugh, solving a murder is harder than I expected."_ Nick stated to himself after going through the theories that he had thought of in his head. They were getting him nowhere, he had basically no evidence apart from Armin's word and a cut on a belt that was burned with Marco's body.

"Why don't you try something simpler." Frieda suggested, worried that he was getting too stressed from all the thinking he was doing lately.

" _Like what?"_ He asked. " _I have literally nothing to use as evidence or even speculate with."_

You could do a background check on Annie." Frieda suggested.

" _Ehh, what?"_ He asked as if he was just given the meaning of life.

"You know, it's what you do to gather evidence isn't it."

" _I know what it is, but why would I need to get one on Annie?"_ He asked obliviously.

"So you can find out about where she came from, maybe her comrades used the same village as her on their form for the military if they joined." Frieda told him.

" _You're a genius Frieda!"_ He exclaimed as he jumped to his feet and rushed to the one desk in the room he shared with the members of his squad. " _I would kiss you if I could!"_ He declared as he grabbed some paper and looked for something to write with. " _Now I just need to send a letter to one of those lazy MP's that work for my father, then I can have them do it and send their findings to me!"_ He thought.

"Settle down Nick, you haven't found out anything yet." Frieda reminded him.

" _Oh well Frieda. I just have to hope that they take their job seriously enough to send their findings back before the expedition."_

Why before the expedition?" Frieda asked, now confused by his sense of urgency.

" _Because if I know who her potential accomplices are then I can determine where in the formation they are, and then where they will most likely attack from."_ He told her.

"And if the enemy doesn't attack from there?" She asked him, skeptical of his reasoning.

" _Then they'll be cleared from suspicion, not Annie though, I'll still need to ask her about the gear she presented though."_

Well then, I'll leave you to it." Frieda spoke once he had finished.

" _Right, thank you Frieda, truly. Now, where can I find a pencil around here?"_

(7 days to the expedition)

"So this is where we will be in the formation." Abel said as he pointed to the middle if the centre rank of the formation. "Our job is to defend the supply wagons, without them we'll run out of gas and blades out there." He continued with.

"But if the idea if the formation is to avoid titans, then why do we need so many troops defending the wagons, wouldn't it make sense to have more spotters on the flanks." Nick suggested.

"You didn't let him finish." Keiji pointed out. "He'll get to that, you need to learn to listen."

"As I was saying." Abel continued on with. "Nick you will be part of the Fourth Section that covers the troops as they clear the town outside the walls." He said while circling the town on the map. "Then you will link up with the rest of the Fourth Section and you will make up the rear contingent."

"Right, so who do I report to after we clear the outskirts of Karanes." He asked.

"You won't." Hange interrupted. "Once we reach our first checkpoint here." She said pointing at a forest on the map. "You will regroup with us while we continue on with the expedition. Alright."

"Yes Sir." Nick replied.

"Good, now go get some sleep, I'm sure you need it." Hange suggested.

Once Nick had left the room some of the squad members had begun to voice their disapproval at him being put in the rear contingent.

"Hange." Moblit started. "Are you sure putting him in the rear contingent is a good idea?" He asked her.

"I agree with Moblit." Nifa stated. "He may have just completed training but he's still a prodigy."

"You got a crush Nifa?" Keiji teased, which caused Nifa to blush at his statement. "But seriously, he's probably one of the best rookies we've had in a very long time, and the rear contingent will basically be a death trap for him."

"I have to agree with them Section Commander." Abel stated, now throwing his opinion into the mix. "I don't see how throwing away the life of possibly one of our best helps us achieve anything."

"It was Erwins decision." Hange finally spoke. "He wanted to see if he could handle himself, he said it would be a win-win situation." She quietly said.

"Eh? How would him dying be a win for us?" Nifa asked, quite angry at Hange's previous statement.

"Erwin sees him as an obstacle for what we want to achieve, and after what happened at the courthouse, he isn't taking any chances." Hange explained to them.

"What happened there?" Keiji asked her.

"The letter from the Royal Assembly was a forgery, and it was Nick who wrote it." Hange explained to them.

"But still Hange, he did help us." Moblit protested.

"Enough. It was Erwin's decision and that's final." She ended the protests with.

"Yes Sir." The four of them replied with.

(1 day to the expedition)

"What the fuck took them so long?" Nick questioned out loud. "Lazy bastards can't do anything right. What do we even pay them for?" He said as the letter he had awaited for the past ten days had finally arrived.

"Let's see what it says." Frieda said as he carefully opened the letter which contained the contents of the completed background check of Annie Leonhart.

"Blah blah blah, an unnamed village, suspicious." He mused out loud before continuing. "No living family members, fits the criteria for an enemy spy." He stated before continuing.

"Is that right?" Frieda asked as she saw the names of the two others from the same village as Annie.

"It should be, but I never expected him. I always thought she hated him." Nick spoke out loud once again.

"It's just... they were so dedicated during training, I never would have expected them." Frieda spoke once again, her voice quivering when she spoke.

"They _certainly played the part of a soldier well, but there's only one way to see if they're soldiers, or spies."_ He told her. " _If we're attacked from the front right wing, we know it's them."_

(Streets of Karanes, day of expedition)

All the scouts had gathered just before the outer gate of the Karanes District, waiting for the all clear signal for the gate to be lifted so they could begin the 57th Expedition. Nick was situated near the front with some others of the Fourth Section since they would be defending the convoy until they reached the open ground past the outskirts of the border town.

Nick was currently stroking the black mane of his black horse that he had aquired shortly after joining the Scouts. The horse was a female, so it was fitting that he had named it Florian after his childhood friend, the black mane reminded him of her dark hair, back before she was killed by Grisha Yeager, the man who had passed his powers onto his thick headed son, who most believed was humanities last hope.

"The titans have been lured away!" One of the Garrison Officers called out. "Gate opens in thirty seconds!"

The gates then began to slowly open after those tense thirty seconds, the gate opened, letting light pour into the opening that had been created by lifting the only entrance to Wall Maria in that district.

"It's officially begun." Erwin started. "The 57th Recon Mission. ALL UNITS FORWARD!" He shouted as he led the charge out of the gate, the rest of the scouts following closely behind.

" _This is it, time to find out who the traitors are!"_


	20. 57th Expedition : Part One

"ALL UNITS FORWARD!" Ewin yelled as he spurred his horse onward to lead the Scouts out of the gate and into the territory of Wall Maria. Hange and Mike were next to him as the Scouts rode behind him as they made their way through the town on the outskirts if the wall, the titans had been led away from the gate but were still present in the town.

"We've got a ten metre closing in from the left!" Hange called out as she looked over to where Mike was looking. "I wonder what the inside of its stomach looks like? Oh well, nevermind. Let the support squad handle it!" She called out to the Scouts behind them.

Two of the Scouts who had detached from the column of Scouts went to engage the ten metre. One of them grappled up and slashed at it's nape. "Damn, too shallow!" The Scout called out to his teammate.

"We have to keep it away from the formation at all costs!" The other called out as the titan tried to grab him from the rooftop, destroying the roof in the process as he got away.

The Titan was leaning on the building after its failed attempt to grab the two Scouts that had attempted to kill it. As it was leaning on the building Sasha was staring in horror as she squealed in terror at the Titan that was only about fifty feet away from her.

"Eyes forward!" One of the other Scouts told her as he turned her head forward to look away from the Titan. "Their job is to deal with it, your job is to keep moving." He told her. "It's dead anyway." He commented.

Sasha looked back to see the Titan had crumpled over down to the ground as it was beginning to steam, signalling that it was dead.

"Don't worry Sasha, we can handle it." A voice came from above her, she looked up to see Nick above her using his gear to fly above the column. She smiled at him before she noticed another Titan coming towards the column. "Theres a fifteen metre coming this way fast!" She called out.

"Shit its an abnormal!" One of the officers yelled. "Keep it away from the main column!" He shouted.

"I'll handle it Sasha, keep going and don't die." Nick said as he changed direction to meet the abnormal coming towards him.

" _I'll have to kill this one, its going to follow the formation if I don't."_ Nick thought as the Titan was getting closer and closer by the second. " _Nothing extravagant, just kill it."_ He thought to himself as it was almost on top of him. He quickly moved to the right and flew across its face, cutting its eyes in the process, he then turned and shot his hook into the side of its knee, slashing across it as he flew past, causing the Titan to crash to the floor.

" _There's no room to get the momentum required for a normal slash across the nape, looks like I'll have to spin while I kill it."_ He told himself as he swappped the grip on his right handle, causing it to point behind him while his left pointed forward. He jumped off the roof he was on as he started to spin just before he reached the nape, successfully cutting the nape deep enough to kill it.

He shot back up to the roof to see the rest of the Scouts breaking off into the long range scouting formation, he quickly got to the edge of town where there were two three Scouts waiting with three horses for the rest of the support squad.

"Hurry up!" One of them called out. "We need to get into formation before we get left behind!"

He quickly landed next to them so he could mount his horse so they could get into the formation, he was situated at the very rear of the formation, making up the rear contingent, he thought about his friends and where they were in the formation. Sasha was in the left side of the formation like Mikasa, so they should be relatively safe from the attack that should come from the right wing. He wasn't worried about Eren because he was with the best the Survey Corps had, despite his appearance Captain Levi was extremely skilled at what he did. Then there was Armin and Krista, although she was somewhat capable of handling herself, Armin wasn't the best with the gear or the blades, and if the attack came from the right flank then he would be in trouble. There was also the matter if the two other potential traitors, or even more, there could be even more hiding within the populace within the walls. He remembered the conversation he had on the first day he was an official Scout.

(Flasback)

"We have something we need to discuss." Erwin plainly said as he gestured to the chair infront of his desk.

"And what might that be?" Nick asked as he took a seat in front of his Commander.

"That stunt you pulled at the courthouse." Levi explained once he had sat down.

"Levi is right." Erwin stated. "You need to have trust in your superiors that we are doing what is best for humanity."

"But why should I put my trust in you when you don't put your trust in your subordinates?" He asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Levi asked, now getting irritated by Nick's attitude.

"That whole show you put on at the recruitment ceremony." Nick explained. "It was because you figured out that the traitors were there right?"

"What are you talking ab-" Levi started before Erwin interrupted him.

"That's right." He said. "But how did you figure it out?" He asked him.

"I'll tell you on one condition." Nick told him.

"And what would that be?" Hange asked, now getting involved in the conversation.

"I want to know the details of the upcoming expedition. It is a trap right? I figured it was since you told all the graduating cadets the details of the expedition." He told them.

"Erwin, you can't be considering this." Levi protested. "He'll screw everything up."

"You're right, this expedition is a trap to lure the traitors out into the open, but only the ones that have survived from before the fall of Wall Maria know the details." Erwin explained to him.

"Erwin, you really trust him with this?" Hange asked him.

"It's not like we have a choice." Mike pointed out. "He already figured it out."

"Yes, he did. Now care to tell us how you figured it out?" Erwin asked.

"Well, five years ago when the wall was breached the Colossal Titan kicked the outer gate, destroying it in the process, then the Titans invaded the district, which there were too much of for it to be natural."

"What are you getting at?" Levi asked, still irritated that they were discussing details of the expedition with him.

"The outer Districts are meant to attract Titans right?" Seeing them nod he continued. "But even with Shiganshina being made to attract Titans, there were far too much for it to be natural, unlike the Invasion of Trost, where it took several minutes for the Titans to get in the city in large enough numbers to be a threat."

"So you think something attracted them five years ago." Hange guessed.

"I do, but-"

"That's great and all but it doesn't tell us how you figured it out." Levi interrupted him with.

"Levi, let him speak." Erwin warned him. "Go on." Erwin prompted him.

"Well after the Titans got in five years ago it took less than twenty five minutes for the Armoured Titan to appear and destroy the Inner Gate, and that never happened at Trost." Nick explained to them.

"That doesn't explain anything." Levi interjected.

"Maybe, but the only reason I could come up with that the Armoured Titan didn't appear would be Eren." He could see Erwin give a small nod at his statement, leading Nick to believe that they had come to the same conclusion. "But even then it took a few hours before Eren showed up in his Titan form, so the only explanation is that they would have been fighting as well, and they must have seen Eren either fighting other Titans or seen him emerge from the nape to stop them from destroying the Inner Gate when the retreat order was given, and then allow him to seal the hole they had made."

"Well then, it seems like you put a lot of thought into this." Erwin calmly said after a second, how he remained this calm after what Nick had told him was slightly unnerving, but he was Commander for a reason.

"I have, but what will happen if we catch them?" He asked.

"They will be taken back with us, they will be interrogated and then most likely executed." Erwin told him, still retaining his calm expression.

"You wouldn't want them to fight with you?" Nick asked him.

"What are you talking about?" Levi asked. "Why would they fight for us after destroying the walls?"

"You make it seem like they did this on their own accord."

"Why else would they have done it?" Hange asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Well, look at it this way, we all agree that they were most likely in the 104th, correct?" They all nod. "The oldest apart from me would be seventeen, with the youngest being fifteen, so at the time of the attack five years ago-"

"They would have been kids." Hange interrupted him, now realising what he was implying.

"Exactly. While they still carried out the act, someone put the idea in their head, kids don't usually think like that." Nick explained.

"So you're saying that someone put them up to this." Erwin surmised.

"If the theory is correct, then yes, that is my theory." Nick answered with.

"Very well, you may leave now, I will have Hange brief you on the expedition at a later date." Erwin told him.

After Nick had left the room they began to converse with each other.

"Don't tell me you trust him Erwin?" Levi asked.

"No, I don't, but his intelligence us remarkable, don't you think so." Erwin replied.

"Maybe its not just his intelligence." Mike offered up. "Being from the interior, he may have access to knowledge we don't."

"That is a possibility Mike." Erwin conceded. "And it is likely he would be privy to certain aspects of life that we aren't, given his class after all."

"What now?" Hange asked.

"Prepare a brief on the expedition for him, and get him to draw up the plans for the false information for the positioning of the Special Operations Squad, he most likely will have suspects in mind if he told us all this regarding his theory about our enemies." Erwin said.

"Are you sure Erwin, what if-" Hange began but was interrupted by Erwin.

"That wasn't a suggestion Hange, I expect the false information to be done by the end of the week."

"Yes Sir." She responded as she left the room to find Nick.

"Levi, I want you to keep an eye on Cadet Meier." Erwin spoke once Hange had left.

"Why? Just have four-eyes do it, he's a part of her squad after all." Levi said back at him. "I'm already assigned to watch one brat, why should I have to watch another?"

"I almost forgot about Eren." Erwin chuckled. "This conversation has been so intriguing that he slipped my mind, but I still want you to keep an eye on him, even if its from a distance Levi."

"Tch, whatever you say." Levi responded as he also left the room, leaving Erwin and Mike by themeslves in his office.

"What do you think of him Mike?" Erwin asked the older man.

"Haven't been able to get a sniff, but he does seem genuine with his reasoning." Mike offered up.

"Yes, it would seem that way." Erwin spoke out loud. "Mike I want you to have Cadet Meier put in the rear contingent for the upcoming expedition."

"Why? He has talent, and if the expedition goes the way you planned wouldn't that be a death sentence for him."

"Don't think of it like that Mike, think of it as a test, to see whether he is worthy of our trust. If he survives engaging the enemy, then we can be sure that he is on our side." Erwin explained to him.

"Right. I'll inform Hange about this decision." Mike stated as he was about to eat.

"Wait Mike, don't tell Hange about the reasoning, if she asks, tell her its because he's a threat to our plans for the future." Erwin told him.

"Right Sir, I'll do that." Mike said as he keft the room, closing the door on his way out which left Erwin in the room on his own.

" _Looks like we'll have to see what he is capable of."_ Erwin thought as he pulled his notebook out of the locked drawer on his desk to write down what had happened that day.

(Present)

"Hey look, there's more black smoke coming from the right flank, you put that with the red from earlier then it looks like they're having a rough day." One of the Scouts said.

"If it's any consolation then its good that Captan Levi and his squad are in the left wing, there's less Titan sightings there." Another Scout offered up.

"What are you talking about Abby? Captain Levi is just behind the Commander." One of the others said to her.

"You must have hit your head Jared, Captain Levi is on the front left wing." Another male responded with.

"I didn't hit my head Russel, that's what it said on my formation plans, it was clearly marked there." Jared explained.

"So where is he then?" Abby asked them.

"What about you... Nick was it? What did your plans say?" Jared asked him.

"Does any of your plans say they were in the right wing?" Nick asked them, seeing none of the respond he continued on. "Captain Levi and his squad are at the centre rear, which would be infront of us." He explained.

"How would you know that? You're just a rookie, I've been a Scout for more than three years." Abby told him.

Nick sighed to himself, considering whether or not to tell them about the real plan, none of them had information that Eren was in the right wing, so that was a good start, but he still wasn't sure about them, he however decided to tell them something else instead.

"Would you guys put your trust in me to take charge of us if the situation called for it?" He asked them.

"Why would we-"

"Yes we would." Abby responded. "After seeing you fight like that, and I've heard that you're quite the prodigy both on and off the field." She said as she winked at him.

" _Is she flirting with me? Ugh, whatever."_ Nick thought.

"When we reach the forest I'll take charge, if you want to live then you will do exactly what I say. Got that?" He asked.

"Yes, but until then, I'm in charge." Abby responded with once again. "Since I have the most experience on expeditions." She contiuned on with.

"Look, more black smoke." Jared pointed out to the rest of them.

"Whatever it is, its getting closer to the centre." Abby pointed out.

" _I hope your okay Armin and Krista, it looks like it went past your rows."_

"Look at that, the right wing has taken too many casulties to continue." Russel told them as he pointed to the smoke that was fired into the sky.

"Looks like you wont be taking charge then Nick, looks like we're heading back, if the right wing can't continue then we've lost the communication links as well." She pointed out to them.

"No, look." Nick said.

"Green smoke, what's Erwin thinking! How will we continue without the right wing spotters?" Abby exclaimed, slightly outraged by the Commanders decision.

"You see that forest in the distance." Nick said as he pointed towards it. "That's where we're going."

"Well then, looks like you're in charge now, lead the way Sir." Abby said as she slowed down to let him infront of her.

"Okay, once we reach the forest Jared, you're job is to gather the horses, Abby and Russel are with me while the rest of you will spread out to look for Titans, if you see one, fire smoke and do not attack without backup."

"Alright then, sounds good." Abby said while the others nodded in approval.

(In the forest)

Eren was riding with the Special Operations Squad, and he was concerned, there had been a lot of red and black smoke coming from the right flank which meant that there was something coming this way, the black smoke signals were getting closer and closer, and the trees didn't help since they wouldn't be able to see anything until it was right on top of them.

"Captain Levi!" Eren shouted to his superior who was riding infront of them.

"What?" He asked, the annoyance was clear as day in his voice.

"Come on Sir, We're in a forest," Eren pointed out nervously. "We won't see a Titan until its right on top of us. The center rank's totally cut off. Something's coming up on the right, isn't it? So, what are we supposed to do? Avoid Titans or defend the wagons?"

"Quit whining and move on from the obvious already!" He ordered. "None of those are an option anymore."

"What... what do you mean?" Eren asked, not getting where the Captain was going with this.

"Haven't you noticed what's around you? Take a look at these big-ass trees. Perfect environment for ODM gear, wouldn't you say?" When Eren didn't respond, the captain went on. "Take my advice Eren, calm down and use your head. The best survival tool is your brain."

Eren wanted to ask more questions but refrained as he didn't want to annoy his Captain. "Yes Sir."

"This doesn't make any sense," Oluo muttered just loud enough for Eren to hear. "What are we doing here? There's gotta be a reason. I mean, they know, right? They've gotta."

That didn't help Eren's nerves at all, if the squad didn't know what was going on, then that meant the possibility that Captain Levi didn't even know what was going on. Gunther brought up the idea of there being a hidden objective to the expedition other than seeing if they had a real shot of getting to Shiganshina.

While he was searching his mind for a possible answer there was an explosion behind them, they looked up to see a trail of black smoke coming from the forest.

"It's behind us!" Eld growled out. "Damn things been behind us since we came in here."

"Blades drawn. Now." Levi ordered. "It'll happen in the blink of an eye, be ready." He said as he drew his blades along with his squad.

Eren turned around to see a lone Scout emerge from the trees high above the ground, he was confused until he saw what happened next, a Titan came from out of nowhere and swatted him to the ground like a fly, whith her right hand covering her nape, rapidly advancing towards them.

"Go, Move it!" Levi ordered.

They looked on in shock as it came from their right side, crashing into some trees as it reached out for Eren, narrowly missing him in the process. Eren looked at the Female Titan to see a creepy smile on its face as it was staring him down as it chased after him.

"Oh shit!" Eld shouted.

"How the hell are we supposed to pull evasive manoeuvres in here!" Gunther yelled out.

"It's catching up!" Eld shouted.

"Captain, engage the ODM gear?" Petra asked him. "Captain!" She shouted at him after he didn't respond to her request.

Eren could see three Scouts cone from the right, following the Titan that was chasing them, he saw that one of them was Nick.

"Rear reinforcements." Petra called out.

One of the Scouts moved forward, attempting to cut down the Female Titan on his own.

"Stop you idiot!" Nick shouted at him. "You're gonna get yourself killed!"

His words rang true as the Female Titan dodged his hook, grabbed onto it and squished him between a tree and her shoulder.

"Russel!" Abby shouted, enraged at her comrades death. "I'll kill you!" She yelled out.

"Stop!" Nick ordered her. "You'll meet the same fate as him if you blindly attack it, stay back and watch me distract it." He told her as he shot forward in front of the Female Titan. She reached for his hook and grabbed it, pulling him towards her, ready to crush him with her hands. Instead he used the gas release to push himself upwards and away from her hand.

Nick could see Eren and the other riding their horses below them as they were being chased by the Female Titan. Not wanting the Female Titan to get Eren before she entered the trap that was somewhere up ahead, he shot forward, attempting to distract her once again. He was able to get infront of her once again, waiting for her to strike at him once again.

This time however while he was waiting, he was able to get a good look at the Female Titan, she had blonde hair that hung loosely around her face, she had a strangely shaped nose, and they blue eyes. " _The eyes are the same colour as Annie's, I'll have to wait and see if it really is her though, I still don't want to believe it, but I can't let my feelings dictate how I act."_ He thought to himself.

He shifted to the left as she was taking her time with attacking him, then she finally swung her right hand at him, he prepared his blades, ready to slice through her hand, so at the very least she couldn't grab Eren with both hands.

He swung his blades but at the last second her hand changed, with a layer of crystal coating it, the blades broke on impact as he narrowly avoided the rest of her hand, he thought he had gotten away with it until he heard a cry of pain from down below.

He moved upwards to get a better view as he saw that one of his broken blades had embedded itself into the back of Captain Levi's right calf, the blood slowly trickling down the outside of his boot.

"Captain! Are you okay!" Petra shouted at him.

"I'm fine, keep moving!" He shouted back at them, leaving the blade in his leg as it would stop it from bleeding more.

" _I've just injured Humanities Strongest, I don't think he'll be too pleased about that."_ Nick thought as him and Abby were still trying to slow down the Female Titan.

"It's dangerous, lets take it out!" Olou suggested, yelling as he did so. "Tell us to engage Sir!"

"I'll cut the bitch." Eld stated as he drew another blade.

Eren looked back at the Female Titan to see Nick and the other Scout still moving around it, trying to slow it down. " _Stupid creature, you're racing full speed to your own death, you're chasing the best damn team of titan slayers in existance!"_ Eren thought to himself.

He looked forward to see that even with a blade stuck in his right leg, that Captain Levi still hadn't turned around to give them orders.

Nick however wasn't having any of this, she was getting to close to Eren for his liking, and if she was to grab him, then she would most likely be able to make a break for open ground where the ODM gear would be almost useless against her.

"Hey Abby, let's kill this Titan once and for all!" He shouted at her loud enough for the Titan to hear him, but as she looked at him she saw that he was pointing towards his heel, that's when she understood it was to throw the Titan off, so they could slow her down to let Captain Levi and his squad get further away.

"Do it now!" He yelled out, as he fired his hook into the Female Titan's shoulder, but just as she was about to grab it he quickly released and sent another one into her leg, quickly moving downwards so he could strike her heel, Abby had done the same on the left side, althought slower than him, she was able to pull it off. Just as he was about to slice the heel, the Female Titan jumped, bringing Nick off balance because he was moving so fast, he was caught in the space between her foor and the floor, he was sure he was about to be squashed like a bug.

" _She read it! How the hell does she move so quickly, I can't believe this is how I go, killed by someone I cared about, the first friend I made back in the Cadets, but I guess I can't blame her, we're on different sides after all."_ He was brought out of his own thoughts as someone shoved him out of the way of the foot rapidly descending towards him, throwing him into the shrubs on the side of the trail as he got a glimpse of his saviour, Abby, the woman who put her faith in him that she wouldn't be killed if she did what he said, but he couldn't hear what was going on inside her head.

" _It's okay Nick."_ She thought to herself as she shoved him aside. " _We need soldiers like you to survive this battle, I just hope you don't blame yourself for this, it was my choice to save you, but at least this way you get to live on. Now I'll finally be with you mother."_ Were her final thoughts as the Female Titan brought its foot down, splattering her across the trail, he body being squished like a bug underneath someones foot.

The Special Operations Squad watched on in horror as they saw one of their own sacrifice themselves for another.

"She's gaining on us Sir, there's no reinforcements left to distract it!" Gunther called out from the rear.

"Your orders Sir, please." Eren begged him.

"Everyone, cover your ears. Now." Levi ordered as he pulled out a flare gun, but instead of a flare, it fired an acoustic round, creating a sound wave that echoed around the forest.

"Was that an acoustic round." Eren asked as he still had his ears covered.

"Remind me, what is our mission?" Levi asked the squad. "Is it to simply act on impulse in the heat of the moment?" He asked. "Let me answer that question for you, its not." He told them after recieving no replies. "This squads mission is to keep this brat alive, whatever the cost. Don't forget it." He reminded them.

"We keep pushing forward, on horseback, is that clear?" He asked them.

"As a bell Sir." Petra responded to him.

"But for how long?" Eren asked. "We can't keep running forever, she's right on top of us as it is, if we don't do something soon-" He started to say but stopped as he looked back to see two more Scouts try to engage the Female Titan on their own.

"They keep coming! They're all gonna die unless we turn around and do something!" Eren protested to them.

"Eyes front, stop looking behind us!" Gunther ordered him.

"Seriously!" Eren incredulously asked him.

"Keep pace with the group, maintain top speed or we're all dead!" Eld yelled at him.

"Eld please. Help them! If the Levi squad can't stop this thing then who can, those men need us!" Eren protested once again as one of the Scouts was squashed against a tree by the open palm of the Female Titan.

"Another one!" Eren cried out. "Damnit, he didn't have to die!" He shouted at them.

The other Scout was still engaged in combat with the Female Titan, dodging a swing at him by moving to the left.

"Come on, there's still one left, we can save him before it's too late!" He exclaimed once again.

"Do as you're told Eren, eyes forward! Petra ordered him.

"How can all of you just ignore what is happening back there, are you telling me to abandon my comrades?" He furiously asked, but before one of them could reply a black flare was shot out of the trees to their right, embedding itself in the nose of the Female Titan, the smoke currently blocking her vision of the right eye.

"Shut the fuck up Eren, I could hear you bitching from all the way back there!" Nick shouted as he emerged from the treeline to fly just above them as he talked to them.

"Nick!" Eren exclaimed. "You have to save him!" Eren shouted at him.

"Shut up and keep moving!" Nick shouted at him. "My job is to slow her down, yours is to listen to Captain Levi." He growled at him, getting impatient with Eren now.

"Why are we letting people die! If this is part of some bigger picture, why can't somebody explain it to me!" Eren shouted back at them.

"Ask not the reason why, ask but to do and die." Olou responded with. "You'd understand what that meant if you weren't a useless greenhorn. Now stifle it, behave like a soldier." Olou ordered him.

"Don't you dare Eren!" Nick shouted as he saw Eren lift his hand towards his mouth, as if he was going to bit it.

"Eren! Stop it!" Petra ordered as she looked at Eren following Nick's commands at him. "You're only permitted to assume Titan form when your life is in extreme danger, that was the agreement, you swore an oath!"

"Eren!" She pleaded with him as he began to bite down on his hand once again.

"Eren you little shit!" Nick shouted at him. "Stop acting like a little bitch and use your head for once!"

"What?" Eren asked as he removed his hand from his mouth a little.

"If you transform then you'll kill us all, you didn't think of the consequences your actions might have, its bad enough that Captain Levi is injured because of me, but it'll be worse if you injure of kill us." Nick told him in an attempt to get him to keep moving forward and not ruin the trap that was set for the Female Titan.

" _He's right, I didn't think of what would happen if I transformed around them, I would have made things worse than they are now."_ Eren thought to himself as he lowered his hand even more.

"I wouldn't blame you." Levi stated. "Do as your conscious dictates. But Eren listen, you are not inherently evil, your ability to change does not make you a monster." Levi told him. "That said it could be the other way round, how are you supposed to know when to draw the line? Whether you lose control or freely give it up. Maybe it's the same." He sighed. "Look, Eren, we don't agree because our experiences brings us to opposing views. That's life. At the end of the day, there's no reason to go against how you see it. The choice is yours. You can trust yourself, or you can trust the people who are willing to put their lives on the line for you. I don't know which way is better. I never have. Should I act on my own instincts, or put myself in the hands of my comrades and trust them? Either way, there's no guarantee. In the end, you choose what you choose. If afterwards, your regrets are at a minimum, good for you."

Eren was now conflicted, on one hand he wanted to transform so he could fight the Titan that was killing his comrades and had almost killed his friend right in front of him, however, on the other hand he wanted to trust that his comrades were right, and that following Captain Levi was the right choice.

He looked back once again to see that the Scout was still fighting the Female Titan, dodging her attempts to swipe him while using her other hand to cover her nape. He brought his hand up to his mouth before Petra interrupted him.

"Eren, trust us." She simply told him as tgey continued to ride away from the Titan that was chasing them.

He looked at her hand to see the bite marks were still there from when they had bitten their hands as an apology for threatening to kill him from when he accidentally transformed.

"Eren!" Levi yelled at him. "Come on, make up your damn mind!"

"I'm with you!" Eren shouted at the top of his lungs.

He then heard a scream coming from behind him as the Scout was smashed into a tree and then tossed aside by the Female Titan, reminding Eren that she was still there.

"Meier give us cover!" Levi shouted at him.

"Yes Sir." He replied as Nick slowed down a bit to meet the Female Titan who was now rapidly advancing again, keeping himself between her and Eren was his top priority.

"Target is accelerating!" Gunther yelled as the Female Titan lowered her body to move faster.

"Just keep moving, we'll outrun the bitch." Levi told his squad.

" _Come on, we're almost there, just a little longer."_ Nick thought as he dodged a swipe from the Female Titan, taking off one of its fingers in the process, there was still black smoke coming from the flare he shot earlier, distorting her vision a bit.

" _This is it for me, I'll let the trap play out now, she shouldn't be able to catch him now."_ He thought to himself.

"This is my stop guys, I'll see you later Eren." Nick called out as he shot upwards, high above where the Female Titan could reach him, he could see her reaching for him as Eren looked up to see the Female Titan about to grab him.

Nick could see the horses run through a small clearing in the forest, where the trap was already set up, waiting for the enemy to arrive.

Nick was about to land just to the side of the clearing when he geard the signal from Commander Erwin.

"FIRE!"


	21. 57th Expedition : Part Two

"FIRE!" Came the command from Commander Erwin who was perched on a tree, waiting until the target had arrived. Once the signal to fire was given there was an intense volley of cannon fire, but instead of cannon balls being fired, it was hundreds of spiked spears being fired into the Female Titan, she instinctively moved both hands to protect her nape so she wouldn't be cut out of her body. The lines were being fired into her body and into the nearby trees simultaneously to prevent her from escaping the trap the Scouts had managed to set up for her.

Eren and the Special Operations Squad continued down the path after they had just witnessed the Female Titan being trapped with the cables.

"Everyone, hitch your horses a bit further on, switch to ODM gear. I have to break away for a little while. Eld's in charge till I get back." Levi told his squad.

"But Captain, your leg!" Petra pointed out as she pointed at the remains of the blade that was still lodged in his right leg.

"I'll be fine Petra." He told her before continuing. "Tuck Eren somewhere out of site, away from the Female Titan, and see to my horse." He said as he activated his gear, leaving them to go forward while he went back to where the target was stuck.

"Wait what?... They're going to take her alive, seriously?" Eren asked, still shocked that they had captured her.

"So what do you think of us now Eren, we managed to outsmart the damn thing!" Gunther yelled at him, sweat dripping of his forehead.

"Let this be a lesson to you greenhorn, don't ever underestimate the Scouts! Never again." Olou told him as he looked at Eren.

"Agreed?" He asked him.

"Agreed." Eren responded with as they continued along the trail on their horses.

Captain Levi however had just landed next to Commander Erwin who was standing on a branch above the Female Titan. "She's not putting up much of a fight." Levi pointed out.

"That's no reason to let our guard down." Erwin stated just as the Female Titan was trying to pull away at the cables that were stuck to her. "Good work leading her here, I'm more than a little impressed."

"We couldn't have without the rear contingent, whose lives bought us time. This belongs to them. I don't intend to ever forget that." Levi told him.

"That so, what about Meier, did he survive?" Erwin asked him.

"Yes, he did survive, but only because he was saved by another member of the rear contingent." Levi told him.

"Interesting, I assume he gave his all to slow her down?" Erwin asked.

"Yes he did, almost got crushed as a result, but he did his job well." Levi surprisingly praised Nick with. "Because of their sacrifices, we can expose whoever this really is. It's any wonder if they're pissing themselves right about now."

Back on the ground, Nick had just regrouped with Section Commander Hange, who was busy organising the spare artillery to be ready to fire.

"Section Commander Hange." Nick said as he approached her.

"Oh, hello Nick, I see you made it, did anyone else from the rear contingent make it?" She asked him, hoping for a positive answer.

"No, I'm the only one who made it." He meekly responded with, not looking at her, but at the ground instead.

"I see." She simply said. "If you go refill your supplies then go talk to Nifa over there." She pointed at her. "I'm sure she can give you something to do alright."

"Yeah." He dimly responded. "Sir?"

"What is it?" She asked.

"Its about her hands, when I attacked them, some sort of crystal formed around them, and it shattered my blades on impact." He told her.

""What!? Like some sort of defense against the blades?" She gleefully asked, seeming forgetting that the rear contingent had almost been wiped out.

"Yes, it would seem that way." He admitted to her.

"Oh, this is brilliant, Imagine what we could do when we get our hands on them. I'll have to ask them about it when we extract them from the body of the Titan. I can't wait for this!" She happily exclaimed, squealing in delight.

"Uh, Section Commander, I think the point in the defense is that we can't break through it." Nick pointed out.

"Nonsense Nick! If there's a will, there's a way!" She exclaimed as she shooed him off to go refill his supplies and to talk to Nifa.

" _I don't think that applies here, it would take too long to even make a dent in her crystal, and even if we do get through her hands, what's to say she can't put that crystal on her nape."_ He theorised.

"She can." Frieda simply responded with. "The Female Titan is able to use a crystalline like substance to harden multiple parts on her body at the same time, including her nape." Frieda told him.

" _That would have been useful earlier Frieda."_ Nick commented.

"Sorry, but you did tell me not to interrupt you during the expedition." She pointed out. "When you looked at her, I had flashes which gave me the memories of the Female Titans abilities, they also include a scream which can call other Titans to her." She told him.

" _Shit, I better get resupplied quickly then, if she does that then I'll be expected to defend her."_ Nick thought to himself as he quickly got resuplied from the supply wagons which had gotten into the forest without a hitch.

Back up in the trees Captain Levi had drawn his blades, ready to attack the Female Titan to see who was hiding inside before Erwin stopped him.

"Not quite yet Levi, a little more insurance." He calmly spoke before he began to shout. "Second and third waves, FIRE ALL RESERVES!" He yelled as the rest of the cables were fired into the Female Titan, keeping her in place for the time being.

The last reserve was fired by Section Commander Hange who was still down below after all the reserves had been fired, after it had sunk into the flesh of the target, she began to speak to it.

"Poor thing, can't so much as bat an eyelash can we? Must be terrible frustrating, get used to it my dear." She gave out a short laugh before continuing. "Biology can often at times be a curse, case and point, the more your wounds heal, the stiffer your joints become." She then started to giggle at the thought of that. "Now what in the world is the hold up on the extraction of our esteemed guest. It won't get any easier, strike while the iron is hot I say."

Just as she had finished speaking, Levi and Mike came down from above to cut through her hands, but just before they could she crystallised her hands, causing the blades to shatter on impact. Mike ascended back up to where Erwin was standing, holding up his broken blades for Erwin to see while he shook his head.

" _An impressive ablility, so she can harden her skin to protect portions of her body, similar one who rushed Wall Maria, the Armoured Titan I believe they called him. The question is how many blade strikes will it take to finally chip our way through, too many in any event. Time is short."_ Erwin thought to himself as he signalled for one of the artillery crew members to get up next to him.

"Yes Sir." The Scout asked.

"Prepare an artillery round. I want her hands blown off." He ordered.

"With all due respect Commander, there's a risk if we use the cannons, the hands will get blown off, but whatever's beneath them will to Sir." The Scout responded with.

"A fine point soldier, which is why you'll aim carefully and sever them at the wrists." He said as he put his hand of the Scouts shoulder. "On my signal I want an all out salvo."

"Yes Sir." The Scout responded as he left to go back down to the ground to signal the others on the artillery team to get the cannons loaded.

On top of the head of the Female Titan, Captain Levi was talking to her, trying to intimidate her.

"Knock knock, we know you're in there, why don't you make this easy and come on out, stop wasting our time." He told her. "Seriously, what can you hope to gain by stalling? If you're thinking we'll let you go, we won't, if you're thinking about trying to escape, don't. All you should be thinking about are the good men you killed today." He told her.

"Tch, not that you would, that's not your style is it? Remorse. You enjoy killing." He continued on with. "Which means we have something in common, of course I enjoy killing Titans, but it's a start, I'm sure we can still find some middle ground." He told her, still continuing to intimidate her. "That's right, while we're on that subject let me ask, you're okay with me cutting your limbs off at the joints right? I mean they'll grow back, I'm talking about your actual body, don't want you dead just yet. Timing wouldn't work."

The Female Titan let out a small grumble at his words, slightly startling him, before she let out an ear piercing scream that went out for miles, causing the Scouts to cover their ears at the high pitched noise that was let out.

" _Shit, that means the Titans are coming now!"_ Nick thought as he held his hands onto his ears to prevent any damage to his hearing.

"Nicely done, I almost lost my composure." Levi started to talk once again to the Female Titan after it had stopped its screeching.

Mike however could smell the incoming Titans as he rushed up to where Commander Erwin was perched high above. "They're coming, I can smell them." He reported.

"From what direction?" Erwin asked.

"From every direction, fast, dozens." He told Erwin.

"Faster on the artillery gentlemen!" Erwin called out as he regained his composure after a short while.

"Here they are." Mike said. "First waves closing from the east, and coming in fast." He told him.

"Wagon defense squad, intercept now!" Erwin yelled down to them as he saw three Titans approaching.

Three Scouts moved to intercept them but they were shocked as the incoming Titans simply ignored them and continued straight ahead towards the Female Titan.

"What's going on, damn things passed right by us!" Abel shouted out to the rest of them.

"Three Titans have broken through!" A Scout called out to them.

"Captain Levi!" One of the shouted as he was still on the head of the Female Titan, stomping his foot on the head of her, wincing slightly as the pain of the blade still in his flesh shot up his leg.

"Hey! What did you do? Called in some friends didn't you?" He rhetorically asked as he quickly shot forward and killed the two taller Titans with ease, the small one however, made its way through and began to munch on the leg of the Female Titan.

"The enemy is bearing down from all directions!" One of the Scouts yelled.

"All hands commence combat!" Erwim ordered. "Defend the Female Titan at all costs!"

" _Finally some action."_ Nick thought as he shot upwards to get a good angle of attack on the incoming Titans. Once he was above them he shot towards a twelve metre, quickly cutting its exposed nape before retreating to find another target, he spotted a ten metre currently eating the Female Titan, he used that to his advantage as he swooped down and killed the Titan with ease.

Just as he managed to pull away Commander Erwin behan to give them orders again. "ALL HANDS WITHDRAW!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. "REDEPLOY THE FORMATION, RETURN TO KARANES DISTRICT." He ordered them, seeing that there were too many Titans for his soldiers to keep up with, conceding defeat for the day.

"We've been bested." Erwin solemly spoke as Levi was perched near him.

"Oh don't give me that crap, not now, not yet." Levi protested.

"Think about it, the enemy was prepared to make sacrifices, enormous ones." Erwin stated. "So commited to maintaining her secret that she would rather let herself be cannibalised than exposed."

"That whole fiasco in the courtroom, with the forged letter, and this is what we've got to show for it. We scurry back now with our tail between our legs, Eren's right back in chains or worse, Meier won't be able to make another forgery without arousing suspicion, from either Zackly or from the Assembly." Levi told him.

"We'll jump off that bridge when we come to it, right to our only concern is getting back without sustaining further casulties, however we can." Erwin responded to him with.

" _All this steam, I can barely see ten feet in front of me."_ Nick thought. " _I highly doubt she let herself be eaten, she must have escaped during the commotion."_

A blue smoke flare was fired, signalling the retreat to Karanese, it was quickly followed by more blue smoke so that the Scouts on the edge of the forest could also see it.

As Nick was riding alongside Nifa who was just behind Section Commander Hange, he heard a small sound in the distance, he turned his head to see a green smoke flare just through the trees. A few seconds later it was followed by another some distance away.

" _Must be Captain Levi and his squad signalling to each oth-"_ He stopped his train of thought as he looked behind him onto one of the supply wagons. " _But Captain Levi is right there resupplying, then who... Oh shit, she's still after him!"_ He thought to himself.

"Nifa take the reigns of my horse!" He almost shouted at her as he thrust the reigns into her hands and quickly junped off his horse and flew in the direction the second green flare came from.

"What? Where are you going!" She shouted at him, but it was too late as he was already out of site. " _What's he up to?"_ Nifa thought. " _He must have something in his mind if he just ditched us like that, I'm sure he can deal with it."_ She thought as she took his horses reigns and kept it running alongside hers.

" _I've got to get there fast!"_ Nick thought as he sped through the trees towards where the direction that he thought the Special Operations Squad was heading. " _They're some of the best Titan slayers humanity has, but I doubt that they could take her on without Levi."_ He continued onwards going as fast as he could but using as little gas as possible. " _If it was her then she'll likely transform again, meaning we'll have to fight, I need all the gas I can spare."_

In the distance Nick could see the Eren with the rest of the squad, but he could also see a hooded figure flying to the side of them. " _That must be her, shit! She's going to kill the guy in front, if only-"_ He stopped his thoughts as he came up with an idea to save him. " _Which line is his? If I can cut it, it will spare him, uh... not that one... fuck, there's too many... wait that's it!"_ He thought as he swung his blade downwards, cutting the cable that was hooked into the tree, he started to fall as he was thrown off balance by the sudden loss of his cable. Just as he fell, the figure came across attempting to kill him but narrowly missed. The guy who's cable was cut by Nick shot another one but hit his head against the tree, knocking him out as he was suspended in the air.

"Gunther! Are you okay!?" Eren shouted towards his comrade. "What happened? Talk to me!"

"He's fine! He just got knocked out, but who cut the cable? They went for the kill." Eld said as he pointed to the hooded figure that had flown across Gunther's path.

"Go kid come on, he'll be fine!" Olou yelled as he grabbed Eren, urging him along. "Keep moving!" He yelled as he threw him forward, allowing Eren to use his gear once again.

"We're just leaving him!" Eren shouted as he looked back at him, only to see the figure come into view once again.

"He'll be fine Eren, someone will get him later!" Nick yelled as he joined the four of them in retreating from the enemy.

"Was that you who cut his line?" Eld asked him.

"Yes, it was either that or death, I'm sure he would take a sore head over being dead any day." Nick replied with.

"Who is that!?" Petra yelled as she looked back at the hooded person.

"It's the Female Titan! Keep her away from Eren!" Nick shouted.

"Damnit! Hey Eld, what are we doing? Huh?" Olou asked him.

"There isn't time to get the horses, make for HQ at full speed!" He ordered them as he sped up, trying to get away from them.

"Damn, whoever it is, they're gonna pay even if it's the last thing I do!" Petra yelled out.

" _The Female Titan! No that can't be right, I thought we caught her!"_ Eren thought as they continued on at top speed.

The hooded figure slowed down, putting themselves out of sight behind a tree so the five of them couldn't see them. Just then lightning came down from the sky and into the forest, creating a shockwave in the near vicinity to them.

"No time to lose, move it!" Eld commamded as the Female Titan appeared out of the shadows amd behan sprinting at them. "She's coming for us!"

"Damn you, not again, I'll kill you! I swear I will!" Eren shouted as he lifted his hand up to his mouth to transform.

"Eren don't!" Nick shouted at them. "I have a plan!"

"What is it? We don't have a lot of time!" Eld yelled back at him.

"Everyone put your hoods up, she won't kill us if she doesn't know we aren't Eren. That means the five of us will have to attack her with our ODM gear." He announced to them.

"What kind of plan is that, useless greenhorn." Olou barked at him.

"No he's right." Eld stated. "If Eren is with us, she wont risk killing him, giving us more of a chance of taking her down. Everyone, put your hoods up and mix yourselves up, don't let her catch on to which one Eren is." Eld commanded as they all began to mix themselves up in the process, confusing the Female Titan.

"Let's do it!" Eld yelled as the five of them changed direction, charging at the Female Titan. Eld faked a strike for her eyes and as she reached out he pulled back, blowing gas into her face, the confusion allowed Petra and Olou to strike at her eyes, blinding her in the process. At this time Eren and Nick went for the back of her knees, causing her to stumble back against a tree, blinded and unable to walk.

" _We've blinded her, that should give us at least a minute until she can regenerate."_ Eld thought.

" _We'll finish her well before then!"_ Petra angrily thought.

" _To hell with capturing you."_ Olou thought.

" _They're going to kill her, that's not good, we can't lose her power, not while there's still hope for her."_ Nick thought to himself.

"You two stay back, we can handle the rest!" Eld yelled at Eren and Nick while he signalled for the others to go for her arms which were protecting her nape.

Petra and Olou shot hight into the air, bring their blades above their heads just before they came rushing down, cutting away at the flesh under her arms, Eld then came forward, slashing into the flesh at a different angle. They came at her once again, slicing away at different parts of her arms, aiming for the muscles supporting her arms.

"They're down!" Olou yelled as her arms finally gave way.

"They're so fast!" Eren exclaimed as he was standing next to Nick on a tree branch.

"None of her wounds are steaming." Nick commented.

"What do you mean?" Eren asked him.

"Only her eye is." He quietly spoke as he realised something just as one of the hooded soldiers was going for the muscles supporting her neck.

"Wait don't do it!" Nick shouted only to be too late as the Female Titan opened her right eye and closed her mouth around the soldiers legs that was closest to her. The hood fell back revealing it to be Eld, once she had confirmed it wasn't Eren, she bit down, severing his legs from his body and spit them out onto the ground.

"Eld!" Petra screamed as she saw him get spit out of her mouth.

Eren made a move to go forward but Nick stopped him. "Stop, I'll help them, you stay here."

"What!?" Eren furiously asked. "No way, Eld just died in front of me. I'll kill her!" He announced to him.

"Stop! Look down there, she can't move yet, we have to leave now." Nick told him, grabbing onto his arm to stop him from doing something stupid.

"Hey! You two! Get up here, we're leaving!" Nick yelled out to Petra and Olou who were shocked by Eld's death as the Female Titan was eyeing them both as the back of her legs were heavily steaming.

"Right!" They both responded as they flew up to the tree where Nick and Eren were.

"Where's Eren?" Petra asked as she landed on the tree just before Olou had.

Nick turned around to see that Eren was no longer standing there. "What!? Where the hell did he go?"

"I'LL KILL YOU!" He heard Eren shout from below them as he looked down to see Eren bite down on his hand and transform into the Attack Titan once again. Once he landed he let out a roar of pure hatred towards the Female Titan as he stood about fifty feet away from her, waiting.

"What's he doing? Why is he waiting?" Olou asked the obvious question. "If he's going to break his oath he could at least kill the bitch."

" _Get up! I'm going to tear you to pieces when you stand back up!"_ Eren thought, his rage building up as he looked at the Female Titan, thinking about all the deaths she caused.

" _Hurry up! I'm going to enjoy killing you!"_ Eren thought, slowly losing himself to his blind rage.

"We need to help him!" Petra exclaimed as she made a move to move off the tree but was stopped by Nick.

"You can't get into the middle of that, unless you want to die that is. Once she beats him we'll move in to get him back." Nick announced.

"What do mean, how do you know that she'll beat him?" Olou asked.

"Yeah Nick, Eren was fourth in his class at hand to hand combat, if his skills transfer to his Titan, then he should win, right?" She told him, trying to convince herself.

"She's going to win." He repeated himself. "If it's who I think it is, she's going to kick his ass once she gets up." Nick told them.

As they were talking in the trees the Female Titan's legs had fully healed, allowing her to stand back up on her legs, now allowing herself to focus healing on her arms so she could fight back.

" _Good, now I can finally fight you! I'm going to kill you, no, I'm going to EXTERMINATE YOU!"_ Eren thought to himself as he prepared to fight the female titan.

Eren moved forward, roaring as he did to swing an uppercut at the Female Titan, she stepped back to avoid the blow easily. She moved forward and kicked him in the gut, sending him backwards as a result of the well placed kick. Eren however grabbed onto her leg, and swung his fist at her, causing her to jump back again to avoid the blow, but she was backed into a tree instead as they both took time to catch their breath.

Eren moved forward once again taking the fight to her, aiming jabs at her head, she dodged both of them and then dodged a right hook as he was getting into rhythm. She then dodged an uppercut that caused her defense to open which he took advantage of, hitting her with his left hand which sent her down as she turned and ran away for a bit as Eren gave chase.

"Come on we have to stay close to them!" Nick yelled as he chased after them in case Eren lost, he was quickly followed by Petra and Olou as they regained their composure.

Eren continued to take the initiative, sending multiple punches at the Female Titan, missing all of them until she fell backwards which allowed Eren to straddle her and keep her pinned on the floor. He lifted his left arm and sent his fist crashing down at full force, she moved her head to the side to avoid the blow, causing his arm to break apart.

Eren and the Female Titan stared each other down as he went over his grievances of not transforming when he had the chance, which had gotten Eld killed. He brought his right fist down at her, slightly missing as she moved ger head once again, breaking his hand at the wrist this time. He continued to stare at her, staying on top of her as he got in her face and gave her a hateful roar, he continued to roar as he leaned back once again to keep his position on top of her.

After that he began to shake, letting himself succumb to his rage at the mere thought of tearing her apart with his hands, as he waited for them to heal he let the thoughts of him utterly destroying the Female Titan flow into his mind.

The Female Titan then opened her other eye as she grabbed his arm, attempting to get him off of her, he responded by throwing a punch only to have it caught and be kicked off of her instead. He quickly got up, throwing an uppercut which grazed the face of the Female Titan, as he threw a punch with his left, causing the Female Titan to roll away. As she got up he threw another rage induced punch as he roared all his anger at her, she dodged it as he came at her once again, unrelenting in his pursiut of vengence for Eld.

As he came forward for a massive haymaker she crystallised her hand, throwing a jab at his jaw, effectively breaking it as it flew off. Eren however was having none of it as he moved his jaw along the surface of the crystal and sent her flying with a punch to the stomach.

"See, he's got this." Petra told Nick after seeing Eren send her flying.

"It's not over yet, be ready to quickly extract him." Nick told her as they continued to watch the fight.

Eren lunged forward with his knee, connecting with the tree as the Female Titan moved out of the way. Eren raised his fists back up to fight again when the Female Titan caught him off guard by going into a fighting pose that he knew very well.

" _That's your stance Annie, I know it very well."_ Nick thought to himself as he continued to watch the fight.

As quick as she had gotten into her stance she crystallised her left shin and swung it at Eren, decapitating him in the process as his Titan body slumped to the floor.

Nick, Petra and Olou had no time to react as she kicked the tree that they were standing on, sending it to the ground as well.

"Quick, engage the ODM gear!" Petra shouted at her male comrades. They quickly engaged their gear and all landed together at another tree only to see the Female Titan bite down into Eren's nape and eat him very quickly and then behan to run away.

" _She didnt bite down on his spine, she clearly doesn't want his power for herself, we need to get him back."_ Nick thought as he saw the Female Titan begin to run away.

"EREN!" Nick heard someone shout from below them. He looked down to see that Mikasa had already began to give chase.

"Come on, after her, he's still alive!" Nick yelled as he took off after Mikasa.

"Are you sure!" Petra yelled at him, hesitant to follow.

"If she wanted him dead, he would be dead, he's on her tongue, now lets go!" Nick commanded them as he continued on after Mikasa.

"Right. Come on Olou, we can't let her get away." Petra told him.

"Right, that bitch isn't going to escape from us." Olou responded with as he took off after Petra, following Nick who was after Mikasa.

"GIVE HIM BACK!" Mikasa yelled at the Female Titan as she slashed at her face, cutting her cheek, she turned around and cut her on the arm, then proceeded to cut her leg, moving around with great speed. The Female Titan attempted to grab her, only to have her nose cut instead as Mikasa dodged her attempt.

"GIVE HIM BACK!" She screamed as she cut the back of her right knee, causing her to fall over, she then went for an attack on her nape only to have her blades shatter on her crystallised hands. Mikasa then landed on a tree, observing her prey for now.

"My blades didn't even break the skin!" She said out loud, shock evident in her voice.

"He's still alive." She said to herself. "He's still alive." She said louder this time.

"And I'm coming for him, just hang on Eren! I know you're in there, and after I kill her, I'll carve out her insides and pull you out again. I swear I will. Just hang on a little longer. Don't give up Eren, never give up." She said right as she dodged an attemp to crush her as the Female Titan swung at her right before she took off running again.

"Get back here!" She shouted just as someone tackled her from the side.

"What!? Nick?" She asked, shocked that he was here.

"We keep out distance now, let her tire out before we make our move." He told her, she looked around to see two others closely behind him, she recognised them as two of the members of Eren's squad.

"Right." She said as she wriggled free of his grip so she could fly by herself.

"Listen up, here's the plan. First off we forget about killing her." He told them.

"No way, she's killed too many for that, she's dead!" Mikasa growled out.

"He's right, retrieving Eren should be our top priority." Petra pointed out, taking Nick's side.

"She didn't kill him outright, and she didn't chew on him, so she must be holding him on her tongue." Nick told them. "Mikasa, Petra, you two distract her. Olou, you and me are going for her eyes, leave the blades in so she can't regenerate her eyes, once we get them you two join in, we render her limbs immobile then go for the mouth to get Eren. Got it."

"Right." They all responded with.

Mikasa and Petra moved ahead of the Female Titan, with Mikasa flying low and Petra flying high up to distract her, the Female Titan was keeping her eye on the two behind her, she knew they were both skilled, but she didn't think that they would be able to stop her.

Nick was flying alongside Olou above the Female Titan, waiting for her to make the first move, Nick was analysing the best path to her eyes, he figured the best way to surprise her would be to go along her arm, but there was only one way to do that. As he was thinking he swapped the grip on his right blade, holding it so it faced away from him.

Right after he did that the Female Titan turned around to swing at the two of them, Olou quickly moved to the right, avoiding her punch while Nick used the tips that Levi had given him to his full advantage by spinning with the blades, going up her arm until he reached her bicep, he stopped spinning and quickly launched towards her right eye, digging both blades into it and releasing them, he looked over to see that Olou had just stabbed her eyes and released them as well, keeping her blinded until she could remove them.

"She's blinded! Move in!" Nick yelled to Mikasa and Petra as he and Olou went down her legs, cutting them at the back of the knee.

"We've got you now bitch!" Olou yelled as he pulled away with Nick to allow Mikasa and Petra attack her arms until they were rendered useless. Nick and Olou also joined in, helping to carve up her muscles that held her limbs up.

" _He's so fast, it's almost like watching Captan Levi!"_ Petra thought in her head as she watched Nick slash away at the Female Titan.

" _Looks like the greenhorn has some skill after all, of course he has a long way to go before he matches up to me."_ Olou thought after watching Nick pull away from the Female Titan to pull out a new set of blades.

After the latest barage of attacks fron the quartet of soldiers the Female Titan went limp, exposing her nape for someone to attack.

" _Her entire body has went limp, like she's gone unconscious. Now's my chance!"_ Mikasa thought as she changed direction, her wire attaching to the neck of the Female Titan.

"Mikasa don't!" Nick shouted in an attempt to get her to stop.

She let out a cry of determination as she sped towards the nape, intent on killing the Female Titan, she was caught off guard as the Female Titan crystallised her nape and raised her left hand to crush Mikasa. She thought she was about to be crushed when she was shoved out of the way with her saviour injuring their foot in the process.

"Captain Levi!" Petra called out to him.

"What are you idiots doing?" He calmly asked them, Nick however ignored him as sliced the sides of the mouth of the Female Titan, causing the lower jaw to drop, revealing Eren who was covered in Titan spit.

"Somebody grab him!" Nick shouted out to them.

Levi acted the quickest, getting into the mouth and grabbing Eren as he shot off, getting away from the reach of the Female Titan. "Got him!" He called out. "He's alright. Disgusting, but alright."

"What were you thinking greenhorn, you almost got yourself killed, and you could've got Captain Levi killed as well!" Olou scolded her.

"We all get that you love him, but try not to act crazy." Levi stated as he shot off with Eren in his grasp, Petra, Olou and Nick all following closely behind.

When they were flying away Nick turned around to see a tear coming out of the Female Titans eye.

" _Annie, it seems like you chose your path here, but I still think there's hope for you yet."_ Nick thought to himself as he turned back around to follow Captain Levi once again.


	22. 57th Expedition : Part Three

**A/N- I noticed that I made a small mistake in the spelling of Oluo's name. I have fixed it for this chapter and I will try to fix it in the previous chapters before the Raid on Stohess begins.**

 **Also I will begin to give my thoughts on what is happening in the story in the next chapter, and answer any questions you have with the storyline... until then Enjoy!**

"Captain Levi, what happened to Gunther? Is he alright." Oluo asked him after they had gained some distance from the Female Titan.

"He's been secured, he only had a slight concussion from the looks of it." Levi replied, still holding the spit covered Eren easily under his arm.

"Now that we've gained some distance from her, now would be a good time to explain why Eren decided to transform when your job was to keep him out of danger." Levi continued on with.

"It was my idea Captain." Oluo spoke up. "I thought that-"

"No." Nick interrupted. "It was my idea to involve him in the fighting." Nick told him.

"Why on earth would you think that putting him in danger would be a good idea?" Levi questioned him.

"I thought that if we kept our hoods up and kept Eren with us that it would minimise the risk of us being killed, if she didn't know who we were then she wouldn't have risked it." Nick explained to Levi.

"Hmm, not going to apologise for putting him in danger?" Levi asked him.

"No Sir, I believe it was the right decision at the time given the circumstances." Nick told him, confident that he had made the right choice.

"Good, I didn't expect you to, and I would have made you clean the whole castle when we got back if you had, although letting him transform was a risk, the only thing that came out of that was the extra effort needed to bring this brat back."

"What about Eld? Did you collect his body?" Petra asked Levi.

"His body was prepared for transport a short while ago." Levi simply said. "We're coming up to HQ, since we lost our horses, Petra, you and Oluo will have to share with Meier and Ackerman since we'll need a cart for this idiot." He told them.

Once they had reached HQ, Eren who was still unconscious from the fight that he had lost to the Female Titan was loaded onto a wagon so he could be given some rest for the way back. Gunther, who had woken up a few minutes ago with a headache was in the wagon with Eren to keep an eye on him in case something happened while he was asleep. Gunther didn't know who it was that cut his wire since he had been unconscious for the whole time the Female Titan had attacked, he also hadn't seen Eld, Petra or Oluo, just Captain Levi who had dropped Eren onto the cart. Gunther hoped that his friends were alright, especially since he felt bad that he wasn't able to join them in the fight against the Female Titan.

The bodies from the Female Titan that had been left along the trail of the forest had already been prepped for transport, so that their loved ones will at least get to see their body one last time. One of the bodies that had been prepared was Eld's, both of his legs had been severed at the waist, cutting them off from his body completely, so his legs had to be tied to his body in order to bring his whole body back, since it wasn't in one piece.

The Scouts had stopped after a little while of travelling so that they could gather up more bodies that the Female Titan had left behind, the bodies being wrapped in cloth and being tied down to a stretcher to prevent their limbs from flailing all over the place.

Captain Levi had taken the liberty of finding Eld's body, it was easy to discern from the rest since it was the only one with a bite mark on his hand, also the fact the legs were tied to his chest instead of being where they should be. He walked up to reveal the patch that had the Wings of Freedom on them, he looked at it for a moment before taking it off, deciding that he would carry on Eld's memory, using Eld's strength as his own in the future, promising that the Titans would be exterminated one day because of his ultimate sacrifice.

Armin and Jean were part of the team that had to load the bodies onto the wagons for transport, Armin having a bandage on his head from his encounter with the Female Titan, who had spared him surprisingly, but that was her mistake because Armin had an idea of who the Female Titan could be, especially after seeing Marco's gear being presented by Annie at the inspection. He had come to the conclusion that Annie had killed the two Titan test subjects and had went on to decimate the Survey Corps in her attempt to capture Eren.

"This is the part of our job I'll never get used to." Jean spoke quietly so that Armin could hear him.

"You're not alone in that." Armin responded still dejected at seeing all the dead bodies that had to be piled up.

"Seems like death's just everywhere. All I can think about is how it'll end, which one of us is next and whether it'll be me." Jean told him.

"Try not to obsess over it." Armin told him. "Only thing that train of thought is good for i breaking your nerve, believe me. Push it out of your mind."

"I suppose you're right, no I know you're right." Jean said as he moved over to bring the other body onto the wagon for transport. "I mean, look at Nick, he fought against the Female Titan three times from what I heard, and he looks fine to me. Never seen anything scare him." He said as he nodded over to Nick who was talking to Petra at the moment at the other side of the field they had stopped at.

"It's just how he is." Armin responded with. "Both him and Mikasa never get scared of anything, no matter how bad it seems."

At the other side of the field, Petra was talking to Nick about his experience on his first expedition.

"How do you do it?" She softly asked him, confusing Nick for a moment.

"How do I do what?" He asked.

"This is your first expedition, and you didn't seem scared at all." She explained. "On my first expedition, I was terrified when I saw a Titan for the first time."

"Just because I wasn't scared of the Titans doesn't mean I'm not afraid of anything." He told her.

Her face scrunched up in confusion. "What are you afraid of then?" She asked, hoping that he would satisfy her growing curiosity.

"I don't think I should tell you, it's pretty childish." He explained to her.

"It's okay Nick, I wont laugh, I promise." She replied to him.

Seeing her look at him like that made him think that maybe he could tell her and she wouldn't laugh like the other kids back in Mitras had at him when they found out about his fears.

"Okay then." He started, as he got ready to tell her. "I'm scared of needles." He told her.

To his surprise she didn't laugh like he thought she would, maybe his fear wasn't as childish as he thought even though it was rather strange as to how he had aquired his fear of needles.

"You aren't laughing." He stated.

"I told you I wouldn't, what kind of person would I be if I did." She pointed out to him. "How come you're scared of needles. If you want to tell me of course."

"It's fine, I'll tell you. Let me start by saying it wasn't something that happened to me that got me afraid of needles, it was something that happened to a friend of mine." Seeing her nod sliently, he continued. "When I was ten, a friend of mine, a girl was... sick at the time. The doctors thought that giving her an injection would fix her and she would be better."

"What happened to her?" Petra softly asked.

"After she recieved the injection, she became a completely different person, almost like her personality was wiped away at times and replaced altogether." He looked down at the ground before continuing on, his voice getting much softer as he went on. "Because I was so young and didn't understand how it worked, I thought that I would end up like her, so everytime I was sick, I refused the treatment if it involved an injection." He gave an emotionless laugh as he went on. "There was even a time when I threatened to fight the doctor that was trying to give me an injection when I was twelve, my mom had to hold me down so that I could get the injection." He explained.

"I know it's childish, stupid and even ignorant, but even though I know it can't happen, I'm still scared that what happened to her, will happen to me." He finished with.

"It's not ignorant, or stupid, and its definitely not childish to be scared of something, everyone has their own fears, even if they won't admit to them. It's part of why I respect Captain Levi so much, because he's able to push down his fears and fight for a cause greater than himself." Petra told him with a soft smile on her face.

"You seem to have a great deal of respect for the Captain." Nick pointed out.

"I do. I wrote about it in the letter that I sent to my father, about how much I respect him of course." She replied with.

"It's not my place to ask, but do you have a crush on Captain Levi?" Nick asked her.

Petra's face burned red with embarrassment at the accusation being thrown around. "What? No! Where did you get that idea from?" She asked, flustered by his suggestion.

"Then who do you like? Oluo?" Nick asked.

"What? Oluo is far too annoying for that, he's a good soldier and all, but he pretends like he's Captain Levi all the time. It just gets so frustrating with him sometimes." She told him, her flustered state now gone at the mention of Oluo.

"It's just that you seem to have a lot to say about someone you claim to annoy you, and have you ever thought about why he imitates the Captain?" Nick asked her.

"No, but the Captain did save his life once, I thought it was because of that." She explained.

"I'm not an expert at relationships or anything, but from the way it looks to me, it seems like he imitates the Captain because he wants that same respect from you."

"Eh! What are you saying?" She demanded to know.

"Talk to him about it, I'm sure he would like that." Nick said to her.

Before Petra could reply they could hear someone shouting and turned around to see what the commotion was about.

"No! I refuse! It's inhumane!" One of the Scouts cried out.

"Damn you shut up!" One of the officers yelled back at him.

"We can't just leave him out here, he was there, I saw Ivan's body, he was right infront of us!" He yelled at the Commander.

"And if you didn't notice there were Titans nearby, go back and we could wind up dead ourselves." The officer replied to him as Commander Erwin was quietly watching the scene unfold.

"So if they attack we'll fight, it's what we do right?" The Scout said.

"Ivan and me, we grew up in the same town together, his parents are like family to me. I can't face them again if we leave him." Another Scout said to the Commander.

"Sentimental garbage!" The officer yelled back.

"Stop shrieking." Levi said as he walked up to them.

"Captain Levi!" The Scout said, surprised that he was there.

"If you've already confirmed his death then there's nothing more to do. Whether we have his body or not makes no difference now, he's still just as dead either way." Levi coldly told them.

"That's cold." The brown haired Scout replied.

"Ivan and the others will be listed as missing in action. That's my decision and its final, now let it go." Erwin told them, having had enough of their behaviour.

"You heartless bastards!" The blonde Scout yelled. "That's the kind of respect you show the men who give their lives for you!" He roared at them.

"Unless you want to be M.I.A, then I suggest you shut your mouth." The officer told him after his outburst.

After that the Scouts began to move out once again, making haste for the Karanes District after the mission to capture the Female Titan had failed. Nick was currently having to share his horse with Oluo who had to leave his horse behind after the reappearance of the Female Titan while Mikasa shared hers with Petra, running alongside the wagon that had both Eren who was still unconscious, and Gunther, who was saddened at Eld's death, but relieved that Petra and Oluo had survived the attack.

"Wait!" A shout came from behind the rear of the column of Scouts.

"Heads up, we've got company!" The same voice yelled as Nick and Oluo looked behind them to see what was happening.

"Titans!" Another voice yelled out from where the first came from.

Nick saw the two soldiers from before that had been shouting at the Commander about leaving their friends body behind being chased by two Titans, he noticed that one of them had a body wrapped around him.

"Those idiots." Oluo growled out. "Are they trying to get us all killed?"

"That damn fool." The officer from before spoke as he shot up a red smoke flare into the sky, alerting the Scouts further ahead that there were Titans on their tail.

"Enemy spotted at the rear!" A Scout called out.

Commander Erwin took one look behind hil before giving an order. "Full speed, all soldiers!"

"Our best chance might be to circle back, make a beeline for the trees." Levi suggested. "We can't put up much of a fight out here." Levi pointed out as he was riding alongside the Commander.

"No, our best option now is to continue to the wall." Erwin told him.

"Tch." Was all Levi said as he started to slow down so he could get closer to the rear where the Titans were.

One of the Titans chasing them swiped it's hand at the two soldiers, causing the body to fall off the back of him. He looked over to see his friend get grabbed by the other Titan as he slowed down, letting the other Titan pass by in the process. He then activated his gear as he went off to try and save his friend.

"It's about to be right on top of us!" Armin pointed out as he rode alongside Jean in the formation.

"Looks like we've got no choice but to fight." Jean stated.

"Ground is too flat to engage ODM gear, and not only that, we'll soon be outnumbered." Armin told his as he looked over to see three more Titans converging on the formation.

"Perfect." Jean sarcastically spoke. "Then what do you suggest we do genius?" Jean asked him.

Armin took one look at the wagons carrying the bodies of their fallen comrades before realising what had to be done. "The only thing we can." Armin said.

Back at the rear the friend of the soldier had just been eaten as the horse carrying Mikasa and Petra was running alongside it as the other Scout got grabbed by the Titan.

Petra and Mikasa quickly got off the horse to save the Scout, Petra going for the muscles of the arm so he couldn't be eaten while Mikasa went for the nape. They both struck well as the Tiitan lowered its arm before falling to the ground as Mikasa killed it.

They quickly mounted the horses in order to catch up with the formation so they wouldn't be left behind.

"We're done! It's gaining on us!" One of the Scouts in the wagon with the bodies cried out.

"I'll jump behind the bastard and distract him, give you a chance to put some distance-" The other Scout began only to be interrupted by the Captain.

"Don't bother." He told them. "We've got to jettison the extra weight. Dump the bodies." He ordered.

"Bu- but Sir?" The Scout questioned.

"Do you know how many corpses we've already left behind, these aren't special. Dump them." He commanded. "Consider it as their last service to the cause.

"Are we doing this!?" The other Scout cried out. "We can't seriously be doing this!"

"Damnit." Levi muttered to himself, feeling the pain in both of his legs after suffering two injuries that day. One was just a flesh wound, but the other was at least a twisted ankle, perhaps even broken, it would take some time to heal, even for humanities strongest.

"I'm sorry! There's just no other way!" The Scout yelled as he opened the back of the cart as he began to throw the bodies out of the cart, some of the bodies being crushed by the chasing Titan.

Captain Levi took one look back at the bodies being thrown out, and he could swear that he caught a glimpse of Eld's face, as it was thrown overboard by the two Scouts.

"Thats it! We're losing him!" The Scout shouted as the cart started to speed away from the chasing Titan.

Once the Scouts returned to Karanes District, the civilians started to murmur about them and the failure of their most recent mission.

"Am I miscounting or are there fewer of them than when they left?" One asked.

"No, there's a lot fewer." Another responded.

"Must've been a bad one." One of the other citizens commented.

"I don't get it, they were all piss and vinegar this morning."

"They're already back?"

"Well, why bother leaving in the first place?" One of them asked.

"No idea, I'd say by the looks on their faces they hoped to be gone longer." Someone replied to the question with.

"Our taxes, hard at work ladies and gentlemen." The same man sarcastically said.

Eren slowly sat up to give them a piece of his mind for daring to insult the Scouts, but he didn't when he saw a boy and a girl, both looking at the Scouts in awe. "Awesome! Beat but they're still ready to go." He shouted out. "You gotta be made of nails to ride with these guys, they're unstoppable." The child told the girl next to him.

"Excuse me Captain Levi." A man called out as he started to walk alongside him. "Good evening, I uh... yes, I'm Petra's father Sir, might I borrow your ear before she sees us. I recieved this letter from her somewhat recently, apparently you hand picked yourself. She's very excited I can assure you. In fact it sounds like she's utterly devoted to you in every way." He said. "So devoted that well, to be honest her mother and I are a bit concerned you see." He laughed nervously before going on. "Now I know that fathers can have trouble letting go, but still I feel she's far too young to be thinking about marriage, she has so much left to experience before settling down."

"Dad!" Petra called out as she was catching up but had heard him say that. "It's not what you think dad." She told him as the insults had begun to fly against the Scouts.

"Give us some answers damn you! We have a right!" One yelled at them.

"How many lives were lost on this mission?" A women called out this time. "Was it worth it? Was it really worth it?"

Commander Erwin knew that they would be summoned to the Capital soon, and they needed to act fast in order to catch the Female Titan before they made another attempt, or the Scouts lost Eren to the MP's, luckily Erwin would get his wish three days later when they passed through Stohess District on their way to Mitras.

(The next day, Scout Headquarters)

The next night Eren was sitting in one of the smaller rooms in the Scout Headquarters alongside Captain Levi, Oluo, Petra and Gunther, who still had a bandage wrapped around his head due to him hitting his head after Nick had severed his line right before he could be killed.

"What's taking Erwin so long?" Oluo sighed as Petra continued to steal glances at him. She hadn't been able to talk to him since they got back from the expedition, still taking Nick's advice about her and Olou's relationship into consideration.

"Maybe he's taking a shit." Levi suggested as he took a sip of his tea. "Duty calls I suppose."

"You're awfully talkative today Captain." Eren tried to joke with him a bit.

"I'm always like this." Levi blankly responded with. "And who said I was talking to you." He said as he stared Eren down.

Before Eren could reply the doors to the room opened, revealing Commander Erwin who was being followed by Mikasa, Armin, Jean and Nick, who all took their seats at the table, Mikasa and Armin next to Eren, Jean across from them next to Oluo and Nick next to Gunther, with the Commander sitting in the middle of Petra and Oluo.

"We think we may know the identity of the Female Titan." Erwin spoke after a short silence. "Thanks to evidence provided by Cadets Arlert and Meier that is. We also have reason to believe that she was also involved in the murder of one of your fellow cadets, one Marco Bott."

"What!? Who is it." Eren demanded to know.

"Calm down Eren." Petra pleaded with him. "The Commander will get to that."

"Thank you Petra." Erwin thanked her for calming down Eren. "The five of you in this room are here because we can trust that without a shadow of a doubt that you are loyal to the cause." He said to the five Cadets in the room. "That being said, we believe that the Female Titan is a fellow soldier." Erwin stated, earning a gasp from Petra, and a look of shock from Gunther and Eren.

"Who... Who is it?" Eren finally managed to get out after a short while.

"We believe that she was a member of the 104th Cadet Corps. We believe her to be... Annie Leonhart." Erwin told them all.

"You... You think it- its Annie? Where's your evidence?" He shakily asked them.

"I think we should begin with the murder of Cadet Bott, if you would so kindly present your case Cadet Meier." Erwin spoke once again.

"Yes Sir." Nick responded as he swallowed the lump in his throat. "When me and Jean found Marco's body, I noticed that the top half of his harness was removed from his body instead of being bitten off like it would have been if he was eaten by a Titan."

"But he was eaten!" Eren exclaimed. "Why would Annie eat him?" He densely asked.

"She didn't eat him Eren, she removed his gear so he could be eaten." He explained. "When I examined the belt harness, I noticed a cut along the middle of the belt, which gave me the impression that it had been forcefully removed from his body."

"So what! That could have been from anything, why do you think Annie did that!?" He asked once again, losing his cool as he did so.

"Because I have reason to believe that she was the one who killed Section Commander Hange's two Titan test subjects." Armin spoke up.

"But there was that whole equipment inspection." Eren pointed out to them. "Annie's checked out didn't it."

"Yes, except the gear she presented wasn't hers, it was Marco's." Armin told him as Jean tried to keep a straight face from across him. "I recognised all the dents and scrapes from when we used to do repairs on our gear together."

"That doesn't prove anything." Eren tried to argue, but even he knew deep down that the evidence was enough to warrant a good deal of suspicion.

"Well she certainly looks like the Female Titan." Mikasa pointed out, and she wasn't wrong, there was a rather uncanny resemblance, the blonde hair, blue eyes, even the nose looked alike.

"What kind of evidence is that!?" Eren shouted as he stood up.

"So what you're basically saying is that our evidence is circumstantial at best." Levi concluded.

"Eren." Nick started. "I wasn't going to say anything about this but, given how you refuse to see the evidence in front of you, I see no other choice."

"What is it?" Eren asked, having calmed down slightly.

"During the expedition, you heard a very loud scream from the forest, yes?" He asked him.

"Yeah, we all heard it." Gunther responded. "Sent chills down my spine, what about it?"

"It attracted all the Titans in the area towards it, like it was calling to them." Nick explained.

"Where is this going?" Eren nervously asked him.

"Five years ago, there were far too many Titans that entered Shiganshina for it to be natural, and the scream from the Female Titan is the only thing I've seen capable of that, even the roar your Titan emits doesn't have the same effect." Nick explained to him. "So what I'm saying is, that I believe that the Female Titan lured other Titans to Shiganshina in order to slip in as another refugee and gain entry to Wall Rose."

"What? No. No! That can't be right! She wouldn't do this!" Eren protested, but he saw that the evidence was clear.

"Eren. It's just a theory, if she isn't the Female Titan then she'll be cleared, alright." Armin tried to reassure him with his usual words of wisdom.

"Now that our first problem is cleared up, we have another one." Erwin declared as he pulled some papers out of his jacket and placed them on the table for them all to see.

"What is that Commander?" Gunther asked him as he leaned over to try and get a good look at the papers.

"These are transfer papers, courtesy of our friends in the Military Police." He stated. "It seems that our dear friend Nile disapproves of Cadet Meier's enlistment in the Survey Corps, and has requested that he be transferred to the Military Police by tomorrow evening."

Nick nearly choked on the water he was drinking as Erwin told them what the papers were, with Gunther having to prevent him from choking by slapping him on the back a few times.

"Can they even do that?" Levi asked. "He didn't get the top ten." Levi reminded them all.

"What!?" Petra, Gunther and Olou shot out if their mouths.

"I know." Erwin continued after the outburst from the Special Operations Squad. "However after reading the reports of his abilities at Titan killing, it seems like Nile has ousted him as a prime candidate for the MP's. He could even brand Nick as a hero for what he accomplished during Trost and for taking on the Female Titan three times." Erwin explained to them.

"Why does he want me?" Nick finally asked as he had stopped choking on his water.

"He seems to think that the Scouts are a dangerous place for you to work, and it seems like the Royal Assembly agreed with him, seeing as they have signed the papers authorising your transfer without my approval needed." Erwin told them.

"Who from the Assembly signed it." Nick asked, hoping that it wasn't his father that had.

"It was the the head and the only member of the Reiss Noble Family still alive, Rod Reiss."

"Father... what are you doing?" Frieda asked to herself, letting Nick hear her. She hadn't spoken much to him the past few days since he had been so busy.

" _What does he gain by getting me moved to the MP's, unless he's trying to get me out of the way."_ Nick thought to himself.

"Where will I be stationed?" Nick asked Erwin, hoping that it wasn't in Yarckel or Orvud.

"Nile was originally planning to have you stationed in the Orvud District, but I called in a favour to have you stationed in Stohess, where Annie Leonhart is currently stationed. Our sources confirmed she reported in for work today, so she should be there when we make our move in two days time."

"Won't she get suspicious if I were to turn up there after what happened?" He asked, still insinuating that she was indeed, the Female Titan.

"Only if you were dressed as a Scout, but you'll be dressed as an MP, in full uniform." Erwin paused before continuing. "I know you don't like it, but it's the best I could do given the Scouts current position."

"I see." Nick replied. "I'll still be briefed on the plan before tomorrow evening right?"

"Yes, we'll hash out the finer details before then." Erwin stated. "You're all now dismissed, we'll need you in top shape for this next mission of ours."

" _Well then Annie, looks like we'll get to speak again before you get the chance to run once again."_ Nick thought to himself.

" _Hey Frieda."_

What is it?" She asked after a few seconds.

" _I need your help."_ He told her.

"With what?" She simply asked.

" _I'm going to kidnap Annie if the opportunity arises when the Scouts make their move, and I'll need your help to question her."_ He explained to her.

"Are you sure thats a good idea?" She asked. "What's wrong with the Scouts getting her?"

" _If the Scouts get her then she'll never join our side, they'll torture her for every drop of information they have, and it's too early for her to give that information away. The Government needs to go before that can happen."_

Are you suggesting that we need to overthrow the government?" She asked.

" _If we are to achieve the freedom that you truly wanted, then yes, the Government needs to go, especially Rod."_

Then who will sit on the throne, another one of the Noble Families? Because there's no way that my father should be King." Frieda told him, making her stance on Rod perfectly clear.

" _No, we already have another one with royal blood within the Scouts."_ He explained.

"Why would you want Historia on the throne, surely it would be better off if you or someone else claimed it."

" _Frieda, that's not true. I think Historia is the perfect candidate, not Krista, Historia. This way she'll finally be able to be her own person, and not have to live for someone or something else. She will finally be free from her Krista personality."_

Okay then, I trust you Nick."

" _Thank you Frieda, it means a lot coming from you."_

But about this kidnapping of Annie to turn her to our side, are you doing it for freedom... or is it because you care about her?" She asked him, already knowing the answer but she wanted to hear it from him first.

" _Both."_ Was all he said as he entered his room to prepare for the next day.

Frieda smiled to herself at his answer as she began to think about it so he couldn't hear her, she could hear his thoughts most of the time, but he couldn't hear hers.

" _I must say Nick, you have a stange taste in women, firstly picking a Titan shifter who had been brainwashed by her ancestor, and secondly by choosing to care about an enemy shifter, who has killed many of your comrades with little remorse, but, if it makes you happy... then I'll be happy with it as well. But don't think I wont try to get some entertainment every once in a while."_ She thought as she began to smirk at the thought of having some fun with Nick once again.


	23. Raid on Stohess : Part One

**A/N - I know that I had Frieda imply that there could be a potential relationship between Annie and Nick in the previous chapter, but nothing is set in stone yet for the characters and the future of the story, remember, anything could happen that may or may not change the way that some characters feel about each other.** **Now I hope thay you enjoy this chapter!**

(Year 841, Mitras)

"Again!" A female voice sounded out, rather harsh in her commands.

There was a soft thump as the ten year old boy thrust his leg into the padded legs of the girl that was being used as his training dummy.

"Again! Harder this time!" The same female voice commanded.

The boy responded with an even harder kick to the thigh of the training dummy, sending her slightly backwards at the power of the kick.

The woman commanding him didn't look impressed at all as she continued to bark out orders. "Don't just use your right leg! You won't have the luxury of choosing in a life or death situation!"

The boy once again responded with another kick, this time with his left leg, sending his shin firmly into the other thigh of the dummy.

"Higher!" The command came once again.

He responded once again by sending an even more powerful kick to the midsection of the girl wearing the padding, sending her to the ground as she cried out in pain. The boys eyes widened in horror after seeing what he had done to his friend.

"Frieda! Are you alright?" He asked as he rushed over to help her up, ignoring the commands for once.

"It's alright, I'm fine Nick." Frieda responded as she felt the air return to her lungs after having it forcefully removed by that kick. "But I have to ask how you got so strong." She teased, his face turning red in embarrassment as she pinched his cheeks.

"Frieda stop." He said as he tried to wiggle free of his friends grasp, the fourteen year old girl giggling as he got redder and redder.

"I didn't say you could stop Nicholas." The female voice spoke once again, telling him that he should continue with his training, despite his concerns for his friends wellbeing.

"But mom, Frieda got hurt." He pointed out. "Can't we stop for today." He pleaded. "It's been weeks since me Frieda and Florian played together."

"I... suppose thats true." His mother conceded. "But you realise why I'm doing this right?" She asked. "I just want to be sure that you can protect yourself in case something happens to you." She said as she kneeled down to his level.

"I know mom." He responded as he hugged her, smiling as he did so. "I'll try twice as hard tomorrow!" He proclaimed.

"I know you will." His mother said as she let him go from the hug so that he could go with Frieda to play with her and Florian.

"Come on Nick." Frieda said after she had managed to get herself out of the improvised training equipment that had almost been forced upon her by Nick's mother, with her saying it would be good experience to attack a taller opponent.

"Look after him." His mother told Frieda as she offered her hand to Nick, him accepting as Frieda nodded to his mother, silently saying yes to her.

"Frieda?" Nick asked after a few minutes after they had left his house to go to hers. "What do you want to be when you get older?"

"I want to be our saviour." She replied to his question with. "I'm going to save the world one day."

"How will you do that?" He innocently asked, not yet having been told of the secrets of the world. "Will you join the Scouts?"

"No Nick. Sadly, I'm not brave enough to fight the Titans like they are." She responded, sounding disappointed in her answer to him. "You need to be special to join the Scouts, and I'm not special."

"I think you're special." Nick responded, Frieda lifting her head at his words so she wasn't looking at the ground while they were walking along the streets. "You're smart, you're really nice, you like to help people... you're really pretty and best of all, you're my friend." He said, smiling a huge smile at her as he did.

"Thank you Nick." She responded, now having a smile on her face as well at his reasoning for her being special. "Who knows, anyone could turn out to be that special someone to join the Scouts, even you."

"I don't know... dad thinks that they're just a waste of money." Nick told her, having overheard his father talking to some others about the Scouts once.

"That's not true." She responded as she bent down to look him directly in the eyes. "They risk their lives so that we can have a chance at living outside of these walls. Don't you want that Nick? To be free of this prison."

"But I heard someone say to dad that it's what we deserve." Nick responded. "He said after what our people did it's the most we deserve, living inside these walls and ruled by the Titans."

"Who said that." Frieda asked, wondering who it was that was so careless to let Nick overhear them talking about the Eldian race, especially at his age.

"It was that old man Inocencio." Nick replied to her.

Frieda grabbed his shoulders and looked him straight in the eye. "Well he's wrong, the Scouts are the bravest people to ever live in these walls, and anyone who thinks otherwise are stupid. Okay?"

He nodded vigorously as he continued to look into her eyes. "But what about all the Scouts that died?" He asked.

"They won't have died in vain Nick, because next year I'm going to free us all from these walls, I promise you that."

"How will you do that?" Nick asked.

"Don't worry about that yet Nick, you'll learn soon enough." She said as she stood back up and took his hand once again. "Now come on, wouldn't want to keep Florian waiting now do we?"

(Year 850, Stohess)

Nick was woken up by someone thoroughly shaking him awake, taking him out of the peaceful sleep he had been having. Now having been transferred unwillingly to the Stohess branch of the Military Police, he could definitely say that the beds were much comfier than the ones the Scouts had, the sheets and blankets were thicker and much softer, making it even harder than it was before to get out of bed early in the morning.

"Get up." The voice of his new roommate practically demamded. "You're going to be late."

Nick opened his eyes to see his roommate was already fully dressed for the day, clearly he was taking his job at least half seriously, either that or he was scared of being fired, but the Officers didn't really seem to care so Nick assumed it was the first.

"The Officer won't care if I'm late." Nick replied, closing his eyes in an attempt to shut out the sun.

"Get up, the Scouts are passing through today, we may have some work to do."

" _That's right, I almost forgot about that, guess the bed was so comfy I didn't think about it_." He thought, slowly opening his eyes to see his roommate staring at him.

"You could definitely say the bed was comfy." Frieda replied to his thoughts with.

" _Really? You're gonna get me hard if you keep talking like that_." He responded.

"Maybe that's what I want." She shot back.

" _Frieda, as hot as you are, we need to be serious today, this could determine the fate of Eren and even the Scouts_."

"Right, sorry about that." She sheepishly replied.

" _It's fine, just get ready to help today, okay_."

"Right." She finally responded.

"I can tell you didn't have many friends back in training." Nick bluntly told him after he had finished talking to Frieda, seeing his attitude would not have been appreciated in the Cadets.

"Eh? What makes you say that?" He asked, still eyeing him down.

"It's the way you act." Nick explained as he sat up, revealing a dark purple bruise on the left side of his ribs after he hit a tree after he was shoved into the bushes while fighting the Female Titan. "That attitude of yours, the way you're so serious all the time won't make you any friends. Even the top ten from my class were laid back most of the time."

"Where did you get that bruise." He asked, ignoring the insults about him, now noticing the purple patch of skin, clearly contrasting the pale skin of the rest of his torso.

"From fighting a Titan." He simply explained.

"You fought at Trost?" He asked.

"Yes, but this us from the expedition." Nick said as he rubbed his eyes.

The boys eyes widened at the statement from Nick. "How are you here if you were a Scout?"

"Let's just say, unwanted transfer. Now can you hand me that glass of water." He said as he pointed it on the dresser.

"Here." He said as he handed it to him, but was dumbfounded as Nick splashed it over his face, getting rid of the sleepiness from his eyes.

"Why'd you do that!?" He shouted at him. "You got the bed wet."

"Doesn't matter now, it'll be dry by tonight." Nick nonchalantly responded. "I'll be there in a minute Marlowe, you don't have to watch my every move." He said as he got out of his bed so he could put his gear on.

"Right, just don't end up like Hitch." He snorted.

"Who's that." Nick asked, not knowing any of the MP's there apart from Annie and Marlowe.

"She was the one that was flirting with you when you arrived yesterday." He explained. "I'm surprised she didn't put her hands all over you."

"Oh... her." He sighed, remembering her calling him cute yesterday, he ignored her however, knowing that he would only be here for today. "I feel sorry for whoever is her roommate."

"That would be Annie. She doesn't really talk much." Marlowe commented.

"Is Hitch is half as bad as you say then I'm surprised Annie hasn't tried to kill her yet." He replied as he got out of his soaked bed to get dressed for the day.

"You know Annie?" He asked as Nick managed to get his pants on.

"Yeah, same class. 104th, Southern Division." He replied as he put his socks on.

"But you look so..."

"Old?" Nick finished his sentence. "I was the oldest in my class by over a year, don't worry about it."

"Right... well I'll be downstairs waiting for our orders, try not to be late."

"Whatever." Nick grumbled as Marlowe left the room.

He put his shirt on after Marlowe had left, putting the harness on before he put on his boots, knowing that he would need it for later today if his plan was to succeed.

"Frieda." He spoke out loud. "Is it wrong wanting her to transform in the middle of the city just so I can go against the Scouts plan. They put their full trust in me, and I'm going to break it just like that." He grimly thought, knowing full well they may lose all confidence in him if he did this.

"I won't lie to you." She stated. "I'm not particularly happy with this plan of yours." She told him. "It will most likely mean the injuries and deaths of hundreds of men, women and even children."

"I know." He softly replied, looking at the Unicorn on the back of the jacked that was supplied to him yesterday when he arrived. "I hate that I'm doing this, and I'll hate myself even more if it succeeds, and the thing is... I don't even know if it will be worth it. Will Annie even join our side? Because I'm going to lie to her about Eren being the Founding Titan. What's to stop her from turning on us the moment she finds out?"

"I can't tell you what you want to hear Nick, but I won't hate you." She told him, making him smile slightly. "And I'll still help you regardless, because even I think this is the best way to get her to fight for us."

"And what about everyone else? Eren and Mikasa will be furious with me if I try to protect her after what she did five years ago." He said. "She's some of the only family I have left apart from my mom, dad and Rachel. I don't want them to hate me." He softly finished with.

"I'm not sure how they will react." Frieda started. "But I don't think Mikasa could totally hate you, after some time she will realise what you did was for the good of us all."

"Doesn't change the fact that it was Annie who tried to kidnap Eren." He pointed out. "Mikasa will hate her for that, and killing countless Scouts on the expedition won't help her case."

"You need to stop grovelling over things that haven't happened." Frieda harshly spoke for once, getting tired of his self pity. "You don't know what will happen or how they will react, so quit whining, get that jacket on and get your ass out that door! You have a civilisation to save!" She practically shouted at him.

"Wow..." He breathed out. "I never thought you shouting at me could be so..." He trailed off at the end.

"So... what?" She asked.

"So... sexy." He finally got out.

"Nevermind that, if you find me shouting so sexy then we can arrange for that to happen at a later date. Now get going!" She sternly told him.

"Yeah yeah." He replied, finally putting his jacket on, his back now displaying the Unicorn of the Military Police instead of the Wings of Freedom.

When Annie woke up that same morning her blonde hair was messy and was sprawled all over her face. The first thing she noticed when she sat up was that Hitch hadn't woken her up. " _Asshole_." She thought to herself, she couldn't deal with that girl, she was so infuriating that she had to refrain from punching her on multiple occasions. She was constantly trying to get under her skin, whether it was with her trying to get something out of her or just being a pain in her ass.

When Annie had finally got dressed and ready for the day, she began to walk down the stairs towards where the new recruits were assembled. When she saw that Nick was standing next to Marlowe, she froze on the staircase, not knowing what to think as a million thoughts rushed through her head.

" _Why is he here!? Does he know about me!? Surely he must if he's here! Is that why? Wait, he's wearing the standard MP uniform, does that mean he transferred here? But how? Must have used his connections._ "

"Are you going to stand there all day?" Hitch's called out, her voice bringing Annie out of her thoughts.

Begrudgingly, Annie made her way down the rest of the staircase, ending up next to Hitch as she continued with her endless teasing.

"At least you're finally awake." She jested. "You look so terrifying when you're asleep I didn't dare disturb you." Annie didn't respond to her, instead taking her place next to Hitch against the wall, waiting for their superior to give them orders.

"You've been pretty lax in your duties lately." Marlowe noted, still looking forward.

" _Typical Annie, slacking off every chance she gets."_ Nick thought.

Hitch then pouted. "Aww, Marlowe, you've upset her." The concern in her voice was so obviously fake.

"She's anti-social, not upset." Marlowe responded, waving Hitch's fake concern off.

"Knock it off you two. You know she fought during the battle of Trost before coming here right? That makes her the only member of this outfit who's seen any real action. She must have been through hell there. It probably takes some time to readjust." The soldier at the other side of Marlowe stated.

"Actually." Marlowe intervened. "The new guy has as well." He pointed out. "He transferred here from the Scouts... after the expedition."

"But that would mean..." The boy started, just to be cut off by Nick.

"Yes, I was on the expedition." He stated. "It was a disaster. The right flank was wiped out barely an hour in, with the early warning system compromised we didn't stand a chance." He explained, leaving out the details of the Female Titan, trying to play it off as if he didn't know about Annie.

"Wow... you must be really brave then." Hitch cooed. "To go out there takes some real guts, but why the transfer?" She asked.

"It's not something I asked for." He replied.

"Can it, the Officer is coming." Marlowe hissed as the Officer walked up to them.

The Officer walked down the hall with sone papers in his hands, seeming like he had some real work for them to do. The younger recruits all saluted as he walked up.

"Great. Thanks guys." He was clearly bored out of his mind when he spoke, not bothering to return the salute. The recruits all dropped the salute except for Marlowe, who still held it. "You'll be happy to know that I've got actual work for you today, not just the same old crap. Apparently it's got something to do with the scouts being summoned to the capital." Annie's head perked up at that, now realising that she would have another chance to complete her mission. "Some time today they'll be passing along the main street. HQ is already provided a security detail, so we're only being asked to assist until the convoy is clear. ODM use in city limits has been authorised, you'll follow beside the convoy as additional security. There's a barge waiting to take you to the starting point. Dismissed."

"Who're you?" The Officer asked as he looked at Nick. "You weren't here yesterday." He pointed out.

"New transfer." Nick replied, not liking the man's ignorance to his job.

"Oh right, I think I read something about that." He scratched his head.

"Excuse me Sir, may I ask a question?" Marlowe spoke up.

"If you must."

"What exactly is it that we're supposed to be protecting the convoy from?" He asked.

"Huh?" The Officer now looked confused.

"It's just that, I've never heard of anyone openly defying the government, especially this far in. Most of the populace is just happy to be safe behind the walls. There are a few petty criminals here and there sure, but I can't imagine any organization that exists being large enough to attempt a strike. What possible motive could such an organization have anyway?" He finished with.

"Well aren't you mister serious today." The Officer looked at him incredulously. "You can be in charge of this." He said as he thrust the papers into Malowe's chest. "Everything you need to know is right in here."

"Huh?"

"We Officers are busy enough as it is, prove that you can handle this one yourselves." He said as he opened the door oposite them. "Oh, and you better not screw it up, got it." He spoke as he entered the room. "Hey sorry about that, back to business, whose turn was it." He said to his fellow Officers who were drinking and playing cards.

"Well, we should probably get going." Marlowe pointed out as he started to leave, the others folowing him.

"Hey Nick, got a second?" Annie spoke up.

"Yeah sure, what is it?" He said as he turned to face her.

What he didn't expect was when the others had left was for her to throw her arms around him to bring him into a hug, effectively burying her nose into his neck as she did so.

"Annie! What's gotten into you?" He asked as he awkwardly patted her back until she let go.

"Sorry." She apologised. "Guess I'm glad you survived the expedition, but how did you get to be an MP?" She asked.

"Apparently Nile thinks it isn't safe in the Scouts for me, and the Royal Assembly seemed to agree with him. So here I am." He explained, it was the truth, so she shouldn't think that he was lying.

"Right." She said as she stood there awkwardly, holding her right arm with ger left hand. "We should go with them."

"Of course." He responded. "Lead the way."

(Courtyard, Stohess MP HQ)

"Damn, this stinks." Marlowe spoke up.

"Got that right." Hitch responded. "The amount of slacking that goes on in this outfit is even more than I imagined, I mean that is why I chose to join, but still, I might've thought twice if that meant the rookies got stuck doing all the work all the time, seriously..."

Marlowe growled to himself as he spoke. "Bastards, they're all irresponsible, self absorbed imbeciles, all of them."

"Hm, so what's that make you Marlowe?" Boris asked. "You chose to join the Military Police, you're a slacker just like the rest of us."

"You're wrong Boris." His tone was low, and slightly threatening. "I'm nothing like the rest of you degenerates. I joined up because the Military Police is in dire need of repair."

"Wow!" Hitch sarcastically said as she was clapping. "That was great Marlowe, I never pegged you for the crusader type."

"Just how do you plan to fix it?" Boris asked.

"By working my way to the top of course." Marlowe responded. "Once I'm in charge, I can install a bew system to make sure those who are dishonest pay for their transgressions. It's as simple as that. The MP's just need a little discipline, and nothing more, I'll shape them back into the people they're supposed to be."

"Wow!" Hitch stated as she was on the floor, laughing her head off. "That is something, and I thought you were a total buzzkill before." She finished, slapping the ground as she laughed.

"Well thats a rather lofty idea, so you know, good luck with all that." Boris resoonded.

"What's the point." Annie spoke up, getting Nick's attention. "I think if a do gooder like you was put in charge of this regiment, you'd quickly find yourself working alone." She pointed out.

"Really?" Marlowe asked. "That's the first thing you open your mouth to say?"

"Don't get me wrong, I don't doubt your sincerity, I know conviction when I see it, you're not the first person I've met who thought they could take on the world and change things for the better. It takes a lot of courage to go against the flow, I respect that. Of course it could be that you're just a bunch of fools."

" _Is she talking about Eren, or maybe me? I guess I can ask her that later."_ Nick thought to himself.

"They might be but don't go lumping me in with them, is that understood? Gah, enough chit chat, lets go!" Marlowe ordered, since he was put in charge of them.

"The escort wagons are scheduled to pass through the outer gate in forty five minutes." Marlowe said as he led the recruits along the side if the river to the barge. "Once we arrive, everyone take up your positions, got it."

"Yeah yeah." Hitch responded as she stretched her arms upward, yawning as she walked into the back of Marlowe, who had stopped. "Hey! Watch it bud!" She told him.

"What's going on?" She asked as she noticed some crates with the MP symbol on it. "That's our gear." She pointed out.

"Shipping it to the interior." Boris offered up.

"Isn't it a bit strange having the merchants guild conduct the transport." Marlowe pointed out. "What are they up to?" He asked as he saw one of the MP's accept a pouch full of coins from one of the merchants.

"Are those bastatds illegally selling government property?" Marlowe growled out, making a move towards them. Nick was about to follow him, a deep scowl on his face at watching MP's sell government property to mechants.

"Don't." Annie said as she held him back. "I want to see what he's got."

"Hey! This isnt our assignment!" Boris hissed at him.

"Look at him, crusader man's the genuine article." Hitch pointed out.

"Well, I suppose we have time to spare, I bet this will be entertaining." Boris replied as Nick and Annie watched closely as the boat set off with the equipment.

"I'd say we've earned outselves a drink." One of the MP's said to his partner.

"What do you think you're looking at, huh rookie?" The other MP said as they both noticed Marlowe standing there.

"You- You can't sell government equipment. It's against the law." Marlowe nervously told them.

"Is that so?" One of them asked.

"Those supplies are the property of the hard working citizens who paid for them with their taxes, and that means-" Marlowe was then cut off as one of the Officers started to laugh in his face.

"Can you believe this business? A rookie blackmailing his superior Officers. Im thinking you got a bright future ahead of you kid." He said as he placed one of the coins from the pouch into Marlowe's pocket. "Go spend it on a girl alright, she'll help you unwind."

"Wait!" He shouted in response. "Hey!" He yelled as he grabbed the MP by his shoulder. "What you did was against the law-"

He was cut off as the Officer drove his rifle into Marlowe's stomach, causing him to double over as continued to beat him into submission.

"Thats it." Nick growled out as the rest of them stood there, while he marched over to the Officers.

"Hey wait." Boris whispered as Nick continued his march towards the Officers who were still beating Marlowe.

"Youre under arest for a treasonable offence against an Officer." One of them spoke.

"Blatant disregard for the rule of law-"

"Is standard procedure." The MP finished, raising his rifle once more, he started to bring it down only to have his bicep gripped by an angry Nick, who had his anger radiating off of him.

"If it's standard procedure, then I guess you wouldn't mind if I did it." He spat out at them.

"What do you-" He didn't get to finish his question as Nick had kicked him in the stomach, the full force of his right shin coming into contact with the man, sending him to the floor.

"Hey!" The other MP growled out as he charged at Nick, swinging the butt of his rifle at him, Nick easily stepped out of the way and delivered a fierce elbow to the side of his nose, hearing a sickening crack as it connected.

"Selling government property is illegal." Nick pointed out. "And I'm well within my rights to deal with said criminals." He said as he stepped towards the two Officers, one of them raised his rifle at Nick, seemingly intending to shoot him, but before he could Nick grabbed the barrel of the rifle and forced it upwards as he yanked it out of his grip, smashing it against his head as he did so, knocking the man unconscious.

"Just you wait till the Captain hears about this!" The other Officer cried out. "He'll see you hanged for treason."

"Oh, will he now." Nick sarcastically replied. "Why would he do that when I only fought against two criminals, I hear Captain Levi is a very strict man."

"Captain Levi isn't even an MP." He pointed out.

"True, but he's still my Captain, and I don't think he would take too kindly to having two criminals running around in broad daylight." He whispered to him as he kicked him in the head, knocking him out as well.

"What the hell was that!" Marlowe asked as he finally regained his breath after his beating as the rest had finally caught up to them.

"They were common criminals, nothing more." Nick plainly said.

"Lool what you've done." Hitch said as she gestured to the crowd. "You've attracted unwanted attention."

"Don't worry about it." Nick said as he grabbed the pouch of money the MP had on him, unwrapping the top and throwing it onto the street, letting the crown of citizens pick up as many coins as they wish. "It was their money after all, wasn't it Marlowe?"

"Yes it was, but still, you didn't have to beat them into submission." He tried to point out.

"What's done is done, can't change it now." He said. "Don't we have somewhere to be."

"What about them?" Boris asked as he pointed to the two unconscious Officers on the street.

"I'm sure someone will come along and deal with them." Nick said as he started to walk away.

(45 minutes later)

"Annie." A hushed voice called out from an alley where they had just passed by as the convoy was moving through the streets. Annie heard the voice and went to investigate, Nick also heard the voice, he knew it was Armin but he followed Annie discretely so she wouldn't hear him, he wanted to listen to the conversation as well.

"Hello." Armin said, Annie's eyes widening as she saw him. "So, you're a full fledged MP now."

"Armin." She breathed out. "So uh, what's with the outfit?" She asked, gesturing to his raincoat.

"Why I'm in the raingear you mean? It's a make shift disguise, needed to conceal my ODM rig." He said as he revealed he was wearing the gear. "See."

"What's this about?" She asked in response.

"Annie, we have a plan for Eren to escape and we're hoping that you'll help us." He explained.

"Wait, escape to where? Stuck behind these walls, where can you possibly hide that they won't find you?" She asked.

"We'll only need to hide him for a short while, this isn't a mutiny, we have every intention of returning." He countered with. "View this as a few loyal Scouts staging a small act of protest, it's a stall tactic, we need time to gather enough evidence to overrun the Assembly's ruling about Eren. That's all we want."

"You're serious about this. How can you be sure the evidence exists? And what is it?" She asked.

" _Come on Armin, you have to sell this, or it all goes downhill from here."_

"I... can't say. I'm sorry."

" _Well then, there goes the whole plan."_ Nick thought.

Annie took in a deep breath, amost as if she was sniffing the air, trying to catch a scent. She narrowed her eyes at Armin. "I'm sorry Armin, you should've asked Nick for help, I'm sure he would have done it." She told him as she began to walk out of the alley.

" _Shit! Looks like I'll have to do this my way."_ He thought, getting his body into position to swing his foot at her head when she walks out the alley, in the hopes it would knock her out straight away.

"Wait!" Armin called out. "Annie please." He pleaded. "They're going to kill Eren!" He told her. "They'll kill him for no better reason than that they fear what they don't understand, they don't see that their fear is pushing humaanity to the brink of extinction."

" _Well you're wrong about both things there Armin, I wish I could tell you, but it would jeopardise everything I've been working for. You will know in time Armin."_ Nick thought as he heard Annie's footsteps getting closer and closer, ready to strike at her.

"Maybe it's too late to change their minds, but what if we can, we have no choice but to be everything on that chance! I'm sorry, the last thing we want is to cause you grief, but well, the only way to sneak him through the Wall Sina checkpoints is with the help of someone in the Military Police. It's our only hope." He told her, trying to convince her to help.

She looked back at him. "Sorry Armin." She apologised. "You should've asked Nick." She said as she continued to walk forward to the entrance of the alley.

" _Here she comes."_ Nick thought.

Armin stood there in complete fear, he didn't know what to do now, the whole plan had fallen to pieces, the only glimmer of hope now was that if Nick had something planned just in case.

He was proved right when she reached the entrance to the alley, a leg being swung at her head very fast, but to his surprise she blocked it, as if she was expecting it.

"How'd you know I was there?" Nick asked as she stepped backwards into the alley.

"You're smart, you'll figure it out." She told him. "But I'm hurt you know, I thought we were friends Nick, and now you try to attack me. Why?" She asked, raising her fists into her fighting stance.

Nick also raised his fists in response, knowing full well that he could take her. "You know why, but shouldn't I be hurt more." He jested back. "After all, you tried to squish me back in the forest."

"Maybe." She said, throwing a left jab at his chin which he stepped back to dodge.

"Armin fire the flare, the plan's a bust!" Nick shouted at him, he was still hiding in the alley.

"I gave it to Mikasa before I left for here!" He shouted back as Nick blocked a kick from Annie.

"Well go get it, I'll hold her off!" He shouted back, after that Armin took off running in the opposite direction.

"You really think you can take me?" She asked, throwing a punch at him which he blocked and clocked her with an elbow across her face, sending her reeling back.

"I know I can, after all, it was quite easy to carve you up in the forest." He said, advancing to her with a flurry of punches, she dodged them, then connecting with a kick to his stomach, sending him backwards as she took off running after Armin.

"Hey! Get back here!" He yelled as he took off running after, chasing her out if the other side of the alley, engaging his ODM gear as he did so. Annie may know this city better than him, but at least he knew where Armin was going, so he went to cut her off.

Annie was dashing in between the citizens of Stohess, trying to get away from Nick as he was chasing her, she had a faint idea of Armin went as she managed to pick up his scent from where he was standing in the alley. That was also how she knew Nick was waiting for her, shifters who have trained get increases in their senses, and the hug that Annie enveloped Nick in earlier had allowed her to pick up his scent rather easily.

She currently had no idea where Nick was, she was constantly looking over her shoulder to see if she could spot him, she knew he was faster than her, and had greater stamina than her, it had probably improved after his month long stay in the Scouts where they constantly trained, while in the MP's there was hardly any training, only patrols mostly.

She was running west towards the inner gate where the checkpoints were at, diring the commotion of her running away she had managed to slip the ring on her finger, in case she needed it if he caught her.

Annie was currently running through the market stalls, pushing her way through the citizens, the fabric overhead stopping her from being seen from above.

She was caught completely off guard when the sheet just behind her was ripped open with Nick dropping down from above, both blades drawn as he rushed her. She quickly drew her blades, and blocked his attack, the citizens around them dispersing so they wouldn't be caught as collateral damage as they watched two MP's fighting it out in the streets.

"It's rude to run away from someone who's talking to you." He pointed out as he slashed at her again, with her parrying his attack as she was continually forced backwards by his constant attacks.

"That's quite hypocritical coming from someone trying to attack a frail little girl like myself." She shot back, activating her ODM gear so she could use it to get away.

"Frail my ass." He shot back, lunging at her once more, breaking her left blade as she was too slow to fully parry the attack. "You're just scared because you don't know how to live for yourself." He swung both blades down, breaking the other one. "All you are to them is a weapon, ready to be disposed of once you're no longer useful to them."

"How... how do you-"

"Its not hard to figure out you know." He replied, sending a kick her way, she jumped back and used her gear, shooting past him in the process, trying to get away now. They knew it was her, and all she could do now was try to get back home, back to her father.

She turned a corner while using her ODM gear, trying to stay out of view as much as possible, making her way towards the closest wall. She looked behind her expecting to see Nick hot on her heels, but she didn't, instead she was tackled from the side by him, sending them both flying through a window into someone's home.

Nick and Annie quickly got to their feet, Annie backing herself up towards a wall while Nick stood where he was, he noticed out of the corner of his eye there was a mother and a child, about five to seven years old, standing there looking at them, closer to Annie than they were to him.

Annie saw her opportunity and quickly made her move towards the child, raising her blade to her throat as she lifted the little girl up, who was struggling in Annie's grasp.

"MOMMY!" The little girl cried out, still struggling in her grasp.

"Annie, let her go." Nick demanded. "They're innocent, there's no need for them to get involved." He said, tightening the grip on his handles, blades still in them.

"This is your fault!" She hissed back at him. "You brought them into this the moment you tried to lead me into a trap here!" She spat at him. "These peope aren't innocent, they're descendants of the devil."

"You don't believe that at all." He spat back. "Stop trying to convince yourself, you're a weapon for them Annie, that's all you'll ever be to them."

He then saw something he never would have expected from her, he saw her smile, then that smile turned into a laugh, like she had just heard a really funny joke, then it turned into a really creepy laugh in Nick's opinion.

"That might be true Nick." She said after she had calmed down, moving herself behind the table that was infront of them, moving next to the window. "But as long as I make it home to my father I don't care."

"Annie, we can reason this out like human beings." He protested, putting the blades and handle away, showing that he was going to back down.

"Oh Nick, I'm glad that I could be your friend, but you made a gamble on capturing me today." She told him rather softly before her tone turned quite dark. "But now I'm going to gamble, and here's my wager!" She said, raising her finger to her mouth, Nick's eyes widening in fear of what she was about to do.

She was however distracted as out of the window behind her she heard an explosion, she turned around to see a red flare being fired into the sky, that being the signal that Annie hadn't followed Armin to the underground entrance at all.

Nick used her distraction to his advantage as he sprung into action, quickly vaulting over the table, moving the child out of the way and grabbing Annie's wrists and forcing them above her head as he forced her against the wall.

He then noticed her flick her wrist, he looked up to see a spike on her ring and she was about to use it to transform right then and there, he moved his hand on top of the ring, preventing her from using it and forcing the spike down so she couldn't use it currently.

"She can bite her tongue to transform!" Frieda warned.

"You think you have me caught?" Annie asked as she struggled against his iron grip on her.

"You won't get free of my grip Annie, I suspect you already know that." He pointed out.

"Don't you get it Nick?" She asked. "A good spy always has a trick up her sleeve." She stated as she opened her jaw, ready to bite down on her tongue.

The only chance he had of stopping her from transforming this time would not have been obvious to most people in his position, but after Frieda had told him she could transform by biting her tongue he knew there was only one option, so right before she could bite down, he leaned down and forced his lower lip and his tongue between her teeth, taking the hit so he wouldn't die.

Annie started to squirm even more in his grip, she only wanted to go home to her father, she never wanted this, she just wanted to live a normal life for herself, but she couldn't do that anymore, not after what she had been sent here to do. In essence, Nick was right, she was just a weapon, a tool for Marley to dispose of as they wish when she outlasted her usefulness, but she didn't care anymore, she would be their weapon, as long as she got home to see her father.

She was squirming against him even more now, trying to bite her tongue wasn't working now after he had stuck his lip and tongue into her mouth. There wasn't a hint of love, passion, or at the very least even lust in the kiss, it was desperation, desperation on his part to not die right there and then, to prevent the deaths of the mother and the daughter also in the room, but Annie couldn't help but wonder if there was a deeper, hidden meaning behind this gesture of his.

He had to risk that she wouldn't transform while he pulled back to take a breath, that was when he noticed that her face had flushed a deep shade of red at the sudden contact between them.

"What was that?" She managed to breathe out.

"Sorry Annie." He apologised, moving her towards the window. "If you want to go home to your father, being used as nothing more than cannon fodder, then go for it." He seemed angry now. "But don't expect me to just let it happen." He said, throwing her through the glass onto the street below as he did.

Annie looked up towards the window as she fell down towards the street below. " _I have to get home to you father, I promised you that I would. Now nothing will stop me!"_ She thought as she flicked her thumb against her ring, cutting herself in the process.

Nick looked back out the window to see lightning come down and strike where Annie had been thrown out onto the street below, there was an explosion if wind and dust as the other windows in the building all shattered at the force of the explosion, getting glass all over the floor.

Nick looked out the window and when he did he was staring straight into the eyes of the Female Titan once again.


	24. Raid on Stohess : Part Two

**A/N - Sorry for the extremely long wait, but I can't change what happened, but I can change how much I write in the coming weeks and so on, but enough about that. I hope you enjoy this chapter which took far too long to write!!!**

The Female Titan rose to it's feet after it had landed on it's back from the way that Annie had fell from the building after being thrown out by Nick, civilians that were in the street below screaming in terror as they tried to flee from the Titan that had just formed before their very eyes.

The first thing she did was to look at the window she had fallen from to see if he was still there, which he was, although he made no movement at all, not reaching for his gear, not trying to get the woman and child out the building, not even moving himself out of the way.

"Are you gonna kill me or what!?" He shouted at her, confusing her slightly, but using his hand he made a gesture for the mother and child to get away while he was shouting at her.

"Prove to me that you don't care about these people!" He roared at her, challenging her as he did so. "Come on! Do it! Do what you came here to do! Kill the Devils you claim us to be!"

"Nick what are you doing?" Frieda asked as she panicked, thinking he had gone insane at what he was doing, asking Annie to kill him.

" _It's the only way to see if she'll side with us, if she doesn't kill me then she doesn't believe that we're descendants of the devil."_ Nick explained.

"You've gone insane! She's going to kill you if you keep challenging her like that." Frieda protested.

" _It's the only way."_ He persisted, needing to know if it would be worth his time kidnapping and questioning her, he already had most of the questions thought out, he just needed some more information on her upbringing to force his points home.

"Don't tell me you're having second thoughts!" He yelled as she stood still, looking at him in disbelief. "What about your two Titan buddies, what would they do? Would they kill me, or are they as spineless as you are!" He hissed out.

" _What's wrong with him?"_ Annie thought. " _He doesn't really want me to kill him does he, or is he stalling for time? Yes that must be it."_ She realised. " _I need to leave now, before Eren transforms to stop me."_ She thought as she turned around and started to run away from Nick.

" _Why hasn't he transformed yet, don't tell me he's having second thoughts. Idiot, I have to do everything myself don't I."_

"What would Reiner and Bertholdt think!" He roared, causing her to stop as he jumped out of the window, engaging his ODM gear to land on a rooftop next to Annie. "What would they think about you abandoning them just so you could go home!? I'm sure they both have families back in Marley as well!"

At the use if the word "Marley", she froze, not knowing what to do now. " _He knows! If he knows and they capture me then they'll kill me, I'll be no use to them even if I get caught!"_

As she was thinking to herself she didn't notice the storm clouds forming overhead, she did however, notice the bolt of lightning that struck the ground two streets over, signalling that Eren had transformed, ready to fight her.

Once the lighting had settled the full fifteen metre form of the Attack Titan could be seen over the two streets between them, his upper body sticking above those buildings, Nick could only hope that Eren would remain in control and not come barreling through the buildings and costing many lives in the quest for his vengence.

" _Took him long enough."_ Nick thought as he quickly got out if the way of the two Titan's in the Stohess District, not wanting to get in the middle of the two fighting it out in the streets. He would need to wait and see who won this fight. If Eren did then he would have to be quick in getting Annie out if there and over the wall where he had his horse and some supplies waiting form him. If Annie won, he would have to go even quicker than in the forest if he wanted to slash her nape and take her alive.

" _I guess there's only one way to find out which one I'll be doing."_

(15 minutes ago)

"Well go get it, I'll hold her off!" Nick yelled at Armin, signalling for him to start running towards where Eren and Mikasa were waiting for him, he had to trust that Nick would keep her at bay for as long as possible.

" _I need to reach Eren and Mikasa as fast as possible."_ Armin thought, his mind racing as a result. " _Annie's gonna kill me, even if she isn't the Female Titan."_ He thought as he kept running as fast as he could.

He looked back on instinct, only to see Annie emerging from the alley and begin to sprint after him, he was a good distance away from her but she would eventually catch him. He looked back once again to see Nick emerging from the alley, only to use his ODM gear and take off in a different direction. " _He better be trying to cut her off."_ Armin thought, now scared out of his mind at an angry Annie coming after him.

" _I can't lead her to Eren."_ He realised. " _I'll have to lead her somewhere else instead."_ He thought as he turned towards the market, the opposite of where Eren was waiting. He looked over his shoulder to see that Annie was still following him, she had gained a considerable distance on him however. " _Come on Nick! I need you."_ He pleaded to himself, hoping Nick was nearby.

He looked back once again to see that Nick had come crashing down through the market stalls, effectively stalling Annie from chasing him in the process as he had engaged her in combat with the blades.

" _I can use this chance to double back to Eren and Mikasa."_ Armin thought as he ran towards another alley in order to flank around to get to his two companions who were supposed to be waiting for him and Annie to show up.

(5 minutes later)

"What's taking them so long?" Eren asked Mikasa, who was standing at the side of the almost empty street next to him, wearing her hood up like he was so there was little risk of them being spotted. "They should have been here by now." He pointed out.

"I don't know." She shrugged. "It's possible that he needed to convince her to help us and that's what took so long." She offered up.

"What if she saw through the plan?" Eren asked. "Didn't he give you the flare gun before he left to find her?"

"Yes." She responded. "It was rather pointless because only he would know whether to fire the flare." She said. "But he's extremely smart." She acknowledged. "I trust that he has a plan."

"What if it is her?" He suddenly asked. "If what Nick said was true then... she was the reason that Titan appeared so quickly." He clenched his fist, his knuckles beginning to turn white as a result. "All I wanted to do was kill every Titan in existence ... I never thought I would turn out just like them."

"Stop it!" She commanded. "You're not a Titan Eren, you're human, you're not a monster." She softly told him.

"That's not what the MP's think." He pointed out. "And before you start, I know that Nick is an MP now, but he's still working for the Scouts, just at another location."

"I'm not so sure about that." Mikasa said, confusing Eren in the process.

"Huh? What do you mean Mikasa?" He asked. "He's always been helping us one way or another."

"It's just... don't you think it's weird that he knows so much about everything. Like the trap on the expedition, or how he said the Female Titan attracted the Titans to Shiganshina, or even how he knew that Marco was murdered." She pointed out. "It's almost impossible that he knew all of those things without prior knowledge." She explained.

"Are you saying that he's... working with them?" He asked, shocked by her accusation.

"No, that's not what I meant Eren. I just... I think that he knows things about this world that we don't, and he's keeping it secret from us." She explained.

"What could he be keeping from us?" He asked. "You don't think he knows about the outside world? Do you?"

"The King banned the public from talking about the outside world." She explained. "But he once told me that the Noble families don't bow to King Fritz, so that could mean any number of things." She replied.

"Hey look!" Eren pointed out. "Armin's coming... wait why is he running? And where's Annie?"

"Mikasa!" Armin shouted out, still running down the street as he had emerged from an alley. "Mikasa!" He panted. "Where's the signal flare!"

"Calm down Armin." Mikasa urged. "What happened? Why isn't Annie with you?" She asked, fearing the worst when she didn't see her.

"I ran... all the way here." He spoke, still breathing rather heavily from all the running.

"I can see that." Mikasa pointed out. "But why? Did she not take the bait?"

Armin took a few deep breaths to compose himself before he talked again. "I talked to her like we had planned but... she didn't buy my story." He explained.

"Why? What happened?" Eren asked. "Is she the Female Titan?"

"We were talking like I said, but when she tried to leave, Nick stopped her. He told me to run to you guys while he held her off." He told them, explaining the situation to them.

"What happened? Where is he!?" Mikasa demanded, worried that he could be hurt, or even worse.

"Last I saw he was fighting her in the market stalls, he looked like he was winning." Armin told them.

" _I thought that Eren was the only family I had, but now I know that Nick is related to me, and I'll be damned if I lose another member of my family."_ She angrily thought. " _If she kills him then there'll be hell to pay for her."_

"So it is her then." Eren conceded after a short while after Armin had fired the flare into the sky, signalling to the other Scouts in Stohess that they had failed the first step in their plan.

Before Armin responded to that question he thought back to something Nick had told him yesterday right before he left for Stohess to join the Military Police.

(21 hours earlier)

"Armin!" Nick called out down the corridor to him, just after they had left the meeting to go over the plan to capture Annie the next day.

"What is it?" Armin asked, Eren and Mikasa also turning around as they were walking alongside him.

"I need to talk to you." He told him. "Alone." He added, seeing that Eren and Mikasa hadn't moved away.

"I'll catch up to you guys later." Armin told them, waving them off.

Once they had left, Armin spoke up once again. "What was it you needed?" He asked once again.

"It's about tomorrow." Nick conceded. "And Eren." He added.

"What about Eren?" He asked.

"If Annie transforms in the city tomorrow, and he doesn't see her do it, you need to convince him that it isn't her." He explained.

"But... why would you want me to do that?" Armin inquired. "And we don't know for sure that it is Annie." He pointed out.

" _You don't, but I do."_ He thought to himself.

"It'll be easier for him to transform without any doubts, I don't think he'll be able to fight if he thinks it's Annie." Nick explained.

"Why wouldn't he? He knows what's at stake."

"Armin." Nick began. "You remember how angry Eren got when those men kidnapped Krista, he called them animals."

"I remember that, but why bring it up?" Armin asked, still confused at his request.

"He won't be able to fight if he thinks it's Annie, he sees Annie as his friend." He pointed out. "She also taught him how to fight when I stopped when Mikasa asked me to."

"You think his emotions will get in the way." Armin stated.

"Exactly, that's why it's imperative that he doesn't see her transform, his hatred for the Female Titan won't be there if he has doubts over her identity."

"What you said yesterday... about the Female Titan leading the Titans to Shiganshina... was that a lie?" He asked.

"No. That's what I believe. I was there too, remember, I think it was planned that way to allow the enemies to slip into Wall Rose undetected." He explained. "But Commander Erwin figured that out without my help."

"Is there anything else?" Armin finally asked.

"No, that's all." Nick replied as he turned around to pack the clothes he needed for the Military Police.

"You sound pretty confident that Annie is the Female Titan." Armin spoke up once again. "Do you know who the others like Eren are?" He asked.

Nick stopped in his tracks at that question, internally debating on how he should answer that question, he spoke up after a few moments. "I always thought that you were too smart for your own good Armin, thats why I never liked you." Nick said without turning around, continuing to walk until he turned the corner until Armin couldnt see him anymore.

" _What a strange Answer Nick."_ Armin thought. " _How much do you know about this whole disaster."_

(Present)

"So it is her then."

Before Armin could respond there was a flash of lightning coming down onto one of the nearby streets, it was followed by an explosion that sent some debris flying across the rooftops above them.

"Shit!" Eren yelled. "Is that her?" He asked.

"Stay here Eren!" Mikasa yelled back, engaging her ODM gear so she could see what was happening. When she got to the roof she was able to see the Female Titan looking at one of the tallest buildings in the district, the top floor was level with her head, so she could look directly at the window of the top floor.

She could hear someone yelling over there, something about Devils, she was able to piece together from the snippets she heard.

"Eren! You need to transform!" Mikasa yelled down to them. "Armin, get out of there!" She called out.

"Go Armin." Eren told his friend as he prepared to bite down on his hand.

Once Armin was clear, Eren bit down hard on his hand, drawing blood from his palm, however no transformation came, instead Eren was still standing where he was while the Female Titan had started to run, he could tell with the tremors that came with her steps.

"Eren!" Armin shouted down to his best friend. "We don't know if it is Annie, it might not be her!" He yelled down, thinking that Nick was right about Eren hesitating.

Before Eren could respond, Mikasa tried to add more fuel to Eren's fire with her own thoughts. "It doesn't matter who it is!" She yelled. "Remember what happened that day Eren?" She asked from the rooftop. "She's the reason that your mother died! She led the Titans to Shiganshina! That's what Nick said!"

"Why do you believe everything he says!" Eren shouted up to his sister, trying to counter her arguments. "I mean seriously!" He shouts. "You believe everything he says, and why? Because he has a tattoo on his back that has your last name!" He ranted on. "And you just accepted it like nothing, like you had known him your whole life!" He yelled at her from the street below.

"Eren save your yelling for later." Armin tried to calm his friend down. "Everyone is counting on you to fight her now Eren, not when you finally accept the truth!" He shouted at him. "Think how many people could die if you don't transform to fight her right now! How many people have to die Eren!"

" _He's right."_ Eren thought to himself. " _It doesn't matter who the Female Titan is, the only thing that matters is that she slaughtered the right wing on the Expedition."_ He thought, getting angrier as he went on. " _I have the power to stop her, and I swore to kill them all. EVERY LAST ONE!"_ He yelled inside his own head, becoming more and more determined by the second to stop the Female Titan and kill her, just a second later he brought his hand up to his mouth and bit down hard, drawing more blood as he felt a spark running through him as a large bolt of lightning came crashing down on top of himengulfing him and the street in a bright flash for a few seconds. As the light settled, the newly formed body of the Attack Titan and the dormant Founding Titan rose up once again to try and lay waste to the Female Titan.

(5 minutes earlier)

" _I don't see him."_ Nile Dok thought to himself as he scanned the nearby rooftops for the escort squad. He knew that Nick was supposed to be assigned to the escort squad. " _Why the hell is this boy so difficult!"_ He angrily thought. " _That boy was always trouble, I don't even see why Zackly let him join the military, even though he somehow went from an ordinary soldier in the Cadets to a supposed prodigy in the Scouts."_

Nile took the time to massage his forehead as he continued along the streets of Stohess towards Mitras where Eren Yeager would be handed back over to the Military Police, even if it would be the Interior Branch handling the case this time.

" _Stupid boy! After all he put me through to find him four years ago after he ran away to the Underground District, he still has no respect for authority!"_ Nile angrily thought, remembering vividly as Nick managed to escape from his clutches multiple times before the First Interior Squad had stepped in to avoid further embarrassment at Nile's failed attempts to apprehend the boy during his first year as Commander of the Military Police. " _He better not embarass me again, beating up three of my men after he sprung a trap we had set for him was bad enough anyway."_

He took a moment to run his hand through his hair as he continued on with his thoughts. " _I can't believe I almost lost my job because of some spoilt child who had just begun his rebellious streak."_

His thoughts on the matter were put to a stop as he heard an explosion going off to his right, wondering what it was he looked up to the escort squad and was about to give the order to check it out until he caught sight of a red signal flare rising into the air.

" _That's strange."_ Nile thought. " _They're only used in case of emergencies..."_

Meanwhile in a carriage a little behind Nile, Commander Erwin, Captain Levi and his squad who were only there to keep up their appearances on it being Eren that was currently being escorted instead of Jean who was his stand in for the moment.

"Looks like they ran into some trouble." Petra pointed out as she pointed at the red signal flare.

"That's the best possible scenario Petra." Levi pointed out. "What's most likely happened is that the plan has miserably failed on the way to the Underground entrance." Levi explained. "And given the fact that the spoilt brat Meier doesn't seem to be here suggests he had something to do with it." He explained.

"That seems a bit harsh Captain." Gunther countered. "He seems nice enough, he did save my life apparently."

"No." Erwin spoke up. "We have to assume the worst has happened, get your gear ready, we're going to rendezvous with the capture squad." He announced, telling the driver to stop so he could give the orders to the Scouts.

Just as Erwin stepped out of the carriage, there was a bright light that filled the skies of Stohess, shortly followed by an explosion that had signalled the reappearance of the Female Titan given that Eren could only transform if she did.

"I hate it when he's right." Oluo dejectedly muttered to himself.

"You three." Levi said, stopping his squad from exiting the carriage. "Don't engage the Female Titan, instead I want you to get eyes on Meier and if he tries anything related to Leonhart." He stopped to hand over a syringe to Petra. "Sedate him." He paused for a second after handing her the syringe. "And don't hesitate, he will use that to his advantage if it comes down to it."

"Yes Captain." She replied as she followed Gunther and Oluo out of the carriage as Levi also left and made his way over to Erwin who was currently talking to Nile.

She continued to stare at the syringe that had been handed to her by the Captain until a hand on her shoulder stopped her train of thought.

"What is it Petra?" Gunther asked. "We need to get geared up to keep an eye on Meier."

"This is a bad idea." Petra muttered so that only Gunther and Oluo could hear her.

"You mean the plan to sedate him?" Gunther asked.

"If it stops him from doing anything stupid then its a great idea." Oluo added into the conversation.

"He told me he was scared of needles." Petra admitted. "I asked how he couldn't be scared of the Titans on his first expedition." She told them, walking to get their equipment. "If he sees me with this then he might think that I talked about our conversation to somebody else."

"So?" Oluo asked. "It's not like it matters anyway."

Petra took this moment to smack him in the back of the head for his complete ignorance as she went back into her thoughts. " _I'm sorry Nick, I hope you don't hold this against me."_ She thought just as another bolt of lighting came crashing down and lit up the sky once more.

The Female Titan had stopped moving at the sound of the second explosion going on behind her, once she turned around all she could see was the Attack Titan that had appeared a few streets over. " _He was this close the whole time! Fuck you Nick, I should've just killed you."_ She angrily thought, not looking at her surroundings, only the Titan that seemed to be radiating hatred instead of the usual steam that it should be doing.

" _No! I have to leave, there's no chance that I'll be able to take him, not within the city."_ She summed up as she turned tail and started to run away from Eren's Titan Form. " _I'll have to fight him at some point though, there's no way I'll be able to outrun him enough to get over the wall. I need to get to open ground."_

She was so enticed by her own thoughts at escaping that she now just noticed that she couldn't move her left arm, she took a look to see that the nerves in the shoulder had been severed. On instinct she hardened her nape, expecting someone to take a swing at her as she raises her other hand to swat whoever it was that would try it. To her surprise she didn't feel anything around her nape area, but instead she felt her mouth muscles being torn up from left to right as she saw the Unicorn of the Military Police fly by her, causing her mouth to hang wide open.

" _Damnit!"_ She thought. " _He's gotten even more unpredictable than before, I'll need to be faster to stop him."_ She thought as she prepared for another attack to come for her legs this time.

Nick on the other hand had completed his goal for the moment, he needed Annie closer to the eastern wall for his plan to come to fruition. He had severed the left shoulder nerves so that Eren wouldn't get his ass handed to him like what usually happened when he sparred with Annie, but he also cut her mouth open so there was no chance of her using her mouth to capture him like in the forest.

He landed on the roof of one of the buildings that Annie had passed by only to be hit with a gust of wind as Eren charged by a few seconds later a few streets over.

"Well... at least he hasn't crashed through any populated buildings yet." Frieda tried to brighten his mood with.

"Yeah." He replied out loud. "But those streets weren't cleared of the civilians, so he's probably trampled all over them in his blind rage." He said while looking at his left wrist.

"Oh... well at least Annie didn't kill you when you gave her the chance to."

"She wasn't going to." He replied.

"Hey Nick!" A voice from behind called out to him, he turned around to see Jean, Mikasa and Armin all heading in his direction. "Who were you just talking to?" Jean asked.

"Myself, doesn't matter anyway." He replied, rolling his jacked sleeve down so they couldn't see what was engraved onto his wrist. "We need to inform Section Commander Hange about the current situation, Armin, can you do that?"

"Right, come on Jean." He said, surprisingly getting no protests from the boy as they both shot off in a different direction towards the trap they had set up as plan C in case they were out of options.

"We can't syand around here Nick." Mikasa spoke up, noticing he was looking into the distance. "We can't let her take Eren away." She said as she started to run off but his voice stopped her in his tracks.

"Stop Mikasa!" He yelled.

"What is it? We're wasting time here." She asked.

"Do you trust me?" He asked, grabbing onto her left arm softly as he did.

Did she trust him? That wasn't an easy question to answer considering the circumstances they were in, despite the clear rivalry she had with Annie and the jealousy that she had felt when Eren insisted on training with Annie instead of her, she still saw Annie as a fellow soldier and comrade, even if she had been suspicious over her uncaring personality over the past three years they spent training together. Annie had betrayed them, simple as, she spent three years with them, only to stab them in the back when the oppportunity arose, and not only that, she tried to take away Eren from her, the boy who saved her life, the one who gave her a new purpose to live, the boy she loved more than anything in the world they lived in.

But a year or so into their training, when Nick had showed them all that tatoo he had on his back with her last name on it, she felt surprised, as fat as she knew at the time she was the only Ackerman left, she knew that they were persecuted in the towns and cities, so she had wondered how that he was able to live a confortable life in Mitras, especially after he told her how their family had a history of being great warriors. She doubted the story at first, but seeing as she topped her training class overall, she was only topped by him during their physical aspect of training, she had seen that his ODM skills were... lacklustre at best, she had even tried connecting with him by offering her help with ODM training, as a way to bond over their supposed family link. He had politely declined her request, saying that he needed to get better on his own, that he didn't want to be fed with a sliver spoon like when he was young, but he offered to spar with her on occasion when he wasn't teaching Krista how to improve on her hand to hand combat skills.

He has done nothing in the past three years during their training to give the smallest hint that he couldn't be trusted, although he was quiet most of the time when he wasn't being spoken to, but she was exactly the same, so she couldn't judge on that part. But the question he just asked made her feel... suspicious, why would he ask that? But ultimately, she felt that she could trust him, he had been nothing but kind to her the past few years, even if Eren had voiced his disapproval of her acceptance of him a few times, she ignored him surprisingly, her family was murdered by human traffickers and Nick could be someone she could have an actual family connection to.

"Yes. I do trust you Nick." She replied after her own thoughts on the matter.

"Then you should trust that I'm doung this for the greater good." He replied, tightening his grip on her arm.

""Wha-" She was cut off as Nick used his free right arm to slug her across the face, sending her reeling to the ground, dropping her handles that she still had out while talking to him. "What the fu-" She was cut off once again as she had to block a knee that was heading to her face at the last second, sending her back another few steps as her hands throbbed after taking the hit.

" _No, no, no, he can't be working with them! He can't be!"_ She thought as he came at her once again without uttering another word, sending a flurry of puches at her, some were blocked, but the raw power combined with his superior combat prowess meant that she was on the losing side currently as he kept up on the offensive.

"Stop Nick!" She cried out while blocking a punch at her face. "Don't tell me you're with her!" He didn't respond as he wickedly kicked at her thigh, his shin connecting as the pain ran up her thigh, causing her to wince and stagger backwards once more.

" _This is bad, he's going to beat me unless I get some help soon."_ She thought to herself, panicking at the mere thought that someone who was this strong working with Annie this whole time.

Nick however knew he needed to end this fast, the longer he took, the more likely another Scout will see what's happening and will come to assist Mikasa against him, and since he was wearing the uniform of an MP, he doubted that they would hesitate to help Mikasa.

He could see that she was putting more of her weight on her right leg than before, telling him that he had done some serious damage to make her limp, he then started to focus more of his attacks on her left leg, putting even more force into his punches and kicks than before, he eventually managed to grab her left leg and bring his elbow down onto it, causing the pain to be too much for her as she couldn't stand up anymore.

As he approached to knock her out he grabbed onto her jacket and muttered "I'm sorry." before giving her another punch which successfully knocked her out as he left her in the fetal position on the roof so that she didn't swallow her own tongue while lying there.

"Was that really necessary?" Frieda asked him. "You didn't have to be so brutal about it." She pointed out.

"She would've gotten in the way." He replied. "Her attachment to Eren would have clouded her judgement, it was clear that she would've killed Annie if she was given the chance." He explained. "The risk of the power going back to the mainland or even Marley, while small, is still too big a risk to kill her for."

"So now what?" She asked. "Now that your cousin is out of the way, what do we do now?"

"We wait for Annie to try and get over the wall, once she reaches the top I'll cut her out and we'll head southwest, that's where the other three are stationed at the moment."

"Three? Who's the third one?" She asked.

"Don't tell me you haven't figured it out yet." He teased. "Anyway, we need to get out of here before anyone shows up." He said as he ran forward and jumped off the building and shot his hooks forward as he went off to see the current situation of the two Titans who were currently engaged in battle in one of the courtyards.

Just after Nick had left the scene, three Scouts had arrived there, one with a syringe in her pocket.

"Look over there!" Gunther pointed out. "Somebody's down over there!" He called out as the three of them races to see who it was.

"Mikasa?" Petra whispered. "Is she?"

"She's alive." Gunther answered. "Just knocked out, seems like she was attacked given the massive bruise on her cheek." He pounted out for them to see.

"Who could've done this?" Petra asked. "She finished top of her class, so who had the strength to overpower her."

"Isn't it obvious?" Oluo growled. "It was obviously that brat from Mitras, Levi said he was the only one to top her physically in their class." He said, the pieces clicking together for the other two.

"But, why?" Gunther asked. "You don't think he's working with her?" He asked them both.

"Well obviously, what other explanation is there?" Oluo asked.

"No he isn't." Petra stated.

"What?" The other two replied at the same time.

"Erwin already cleared him of working with the enemy, that's why he knew about the plan to capture the Female Titan in the forest, and that's why he was includedin this plan. Captain Levi trusts Erwin, and I trust the Captain." She declared.

"Then what is he doing?" Oluo asked.

"I don't know." Gunther responded. "But we need to get back on track, Oluo, you take Mikasa back to where Captain Levi is, me and Petra will continue following Meier."

"Right." Oluo responded, picking up the surprisingly heave Mikasa and took off back to where Captain Levi is currently at.

" _What the hell are you doing Nick?"_ Petra questioned in her head before taking off after Gunther.

Nick could easily hear the screams of the Female Titan from a few streets away as he was getting closer to the source of the sound, once he was able to get a clear view from down the street he noticed that Eren was sitting inside of a partly destroyed building with his jaws clamped down on Annie's crystallised shin as she continued to hammer away at his head with her crystallised fist to make him let go so she could make a run for it.

With one last scream from her and another fist to the head, Eren finally let go of her leg, the top of his head caved in, with him unconscious and ripe for the taking considering her jaw had now healed fully from Nick's earlier attacks.

Nick however, was surprised when she tirned tail and ran without even trying to take Eren away. " _Well then."_ He thought. " _With Eren out of action, now's my chance to take her instead."_

At the end of that thought he sped off after her, gaining distance quite easily with the amount of buildings he had between him and her, once he was within striking tange, he swapped the grip on his right blade to point behind him as he brought both arms back and ready to strike, he was about to speed towards the nape until he heard rumbling from behind him, on instinct he turned around to see Eren's Titan form coming at them way faster than he was, his Titan was also on fire and Nick noticed his eyes had turned blue.

" _Holy shit!"_ Nick thought. " _Fuck, I can't be in his way!"_ He thought as he noticed Eren getting closer and closer, only using one arm and one leg to move. Nick quickly scanned his surroundingsand noticed a window he could crash through, so while Eren was coming straight at Annie, Nick altered his course so he could swing through the window and into the building without being crushed.

He went through the window feet first so he would be able to keep his balance instead of landing on his face, his momentum kept him going as he kept moving forward and had to roll over a table that was in the room as a gust of wind blew the table over and on top of him. The sound of the toars outside meant that Eren had caught Annie and was now duking it out with her in the open space next to the wall.

"My fucking back." Nick gritted out as he shoved the upturned table off of him, allowing him to get out of the very unconfortable position of the main body of the ODM gear being between him and the floor. "Who designed this shit anyway?" He asked.

"I believe it was a blacksmith named Angel Aaltonen." Frieda replied. "He was the first person in the walls to kill a Titan by actively searching for its weakness."

"I know that Frieda." He responded. "It was a rhetorical question, I wonder how many people have broken their spine after landing on their lower back while using ODM gear?" He asked to himself, slowly getting ack to his feet, stumbling a few times because of the rumbling going on outside.

"Anyway, we need to get back out there before she gets away." He said, walking up to the window and leaning outside, only to see Annie running for the wall and hardening her fingertips so she could climb the wall.

"Better hurry up or she will get away." Frieda pointed out.

Without responding Nick leapt out if the window and shot his hooks into a building, beginning to circle around towards the wall to prevent Annie from getting away from him.

Eren however had decided to latch onto Annie's left foot as she begun to climb, forcing her to sacrifice it so she could continue climbing the walls with Eren in his Titan form falling to the ground below, currently not being able to do anything to prevent Annie's escape.

Nick on the other hand was still busy circling around, going at top speed so he could catch her before she got to open ground on the other side of the wall.

" _Hopefully with her being tired out from fighting Eren, and her thinking that she will escape, she won't be able to hear me coming until it's too late."_ He thought as he sunk his hook into the wall, racing across the wall to follow Annie up so he could deliver a vertical slice to her nape to cut her out without killing her.

As Annie neared the top of the wall, her hardened fingertips being the only thing that was allowing her to continue upwards to her freedom, once she was a few metres away she finally begun to think that she would be able to see her father again, her fingers reached the top of the wall, her right arm hauling her body up to the top of the wall, right as she was about to pull her other arm up and over, she heard the faint noise of what sounded like gas being dispersed from the gas nechanisn of the ODM gear, before she was even able to think about hardening her nape, she couldn't see anymore.

He had done it, he had successfully managed to cut Annie out of her body without killing her, as he pulled her away from the carcass before she could pull anymore tricks from up her sleeve, he noticed that he had severed her arms from the bicep, leaving rather short steaming stumps in their place.

" _Oh well... she won't be needing those anyway."_ He thought. " _Be easier to tie her up as well, wasting less rope in the process."_ He thought as he swiftly got off of her Titan body before it began to slide off the wall and down to where Eren was below.

" _That should hopefully buy me some more time."_ He mused, hoisting a barely conscious Annie over his shoulder and dropping down over the other side of the wall.

 **A/N - Whew! That took far longer than I had expected to finish, but oh well. Looks like Nick and Annie are going to have a heart to heart out in the plains of Wall Rose, but the next chapter will focus on some more of Nick's past, specifically his time in the Underground District that Nile Dok hinted at earlier in the chapter. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter!!**


	25. Memories of the Past : Part One

(Mitras, 846)

"Nick, you know, I had always thought that you were smart, even when you were younger... but I am seriously considering retracting that statement."

"Frieda-"

"Don't Frieda me Nick!" She responded. "I mean, did you even think about what you're doing right now!" She shouted at him inside of his head.

"Yes, I do know what I'm doing." He calmly responded, walking through the barely lit streets of Mitras during the night.

"Really!" She shrieked. "Because I don't think you have, what could you possibly gain from venturing into the Underground District? An early death? A life as somebody's play thing in the Underground? Or maybe you would prefer to be kidnapped and sold to one of the sick minded people here in Mitras, because that is a giant possibility if you go down there!" She tried to warn him.

"That's not going to happen." He tried to brush it off as if it were nothing, but there was a high chance of him ending up with broken bones with what he was planning on doing down in the Underground.

"We're here." He announced to her. Standing at the entrance to the Underground District, the poorest District inside the two walls that were left standing. He shrugged off more of Frieda's protests as he began to walk down the stairs towards his destination, he had walked down the first flight of stairs and had to turn right only to run into two men who seemed to be standing guard there.

"Whatcha' want kid?" The larger of the men asked him, he was about six foot one, not in great shape either from what Nick could tell, the other one was about three inches taller than Nick at five foot ten, giving them both a height advantage over him if anything were to happen.

"I want to get through." He calmly spoke once more, noticing how the smaller of the men was looking him over as he spoke.

"Sure." The taller man spoke up. "But you have to pay the toll first." He grinned. "No one gets past without paying the toll." He tried to explain.

"Nicholas Lovof is in prison for the exact same thing you two are doing." Nick spoke up, not willing to spend any of the money he had with him on these two idiots.

"Looks like we got a smart one." The smaller man commented. "Lovof may be in prison, but that don't mean we got to stop tolling people."

"You want me." Nick pointed at himself. "To pay you two idiots." He pointed at them. "To ENTER the Underground." He pointed down the stairs that went down past the two men.

"Pretty much sums it up." The tall one commented. "But, since you're here, I know some guys down there that could take you under their protection... for a price of course." He explained.

"What do you mean by the price?" Nick asked.

"We mean that you don't die down there, and you become his personal fuck buddy." The small man explained as they both drew knives and moved towards him.

" _You've got to be shitting me."_ Nick thought. " _I'm not even down there and I'm being threatened by forced prostitution already."_

"I told you it was bad down here, I suggest you cut your losses and run back up the steps and into your safe from sexual predators bedroom." Frieda recommended.

" _That's what a coward would do Frieda."_ He protested. "I'll never be able to free us from these walls if I run from these two idiots." He muttered to himself.

"What's it gonna be kid?" The tall one asked. "Might as well accept it, there's no escape from this." Nodding towards the third man who was approaching from behind Nick.

"Well... looks like an early grave for you Nick." Frieda sighed out, effectively giving up at this point.

" _Have a little faith Frieda."_ He said to her, dropping his sack and pulling a switchblade from the back of his pants, flipping the blade out signalling that he was ready to attack the three men.

"Looks like the pretty boy wants a fight." The third man called out from behind. "Don't kill him, he could sell for a hefty price to the right person, but beat him up a little... make him learn his place in this world."

"With pleasure." The tall man cockily spoke, swinging his arm without the blade at Nick, expecting him to be knocked out when it connected. But to the man's surprise, Nick moved his head out of the way, causing him to overextend his swing which allowed Nick to grab his arm with his left hand and deliver a vertical slice with the knife in a reverse grip to his shoulder, he followed this up with a quick kick to the gut and threw the man back towards his partner in crime.

"Argh!" The man cried out in pain. "You'll pay for that you little shit!" He roared out, charging once again, this time swinging his knife at Nick, trying to stab him. Nick instead blocked the slice with his own knife which caused him to overextend with his body this time which allowed Nick to stick his knife in the his thigh, causing him to kneel down in pain as Nick swiftly delivered a kick to the side of his skull, knocking him out instantly.

"You!" The smaller man shouted. "Are gonna pay for that!" He roared lunging at Nick with no form at all. Nick simply lefted his right leg up and bashed his head with his foot, sending him crashing to the ground with a thud, also unconscious.

"Nice fighting kiddo!" A familiar voice sounded out from behind him.

Nick looked back to see someone he didn't particularly like standing over the dead body of the third man. "Urgh, not you." He started off. "Don't you have something better to do than follow children into dark enclosed spaces... Kenny." He spat out.

"That's no way to greet your Uncle Kenny!" He exclaimed. "I know you really like me deep down in that cold heart of yours." He claimed. "What happened to you anyway, you used to be much more happy in your youth."

"You know exactly what happened." Nick muttered to him.

"Ah yes, I do believe I do, that girl you were so fond of got so brutally eaten didn't she." Kenny joked. "What was her name again, I can't even remember, must've not been important enough to store up here." He tapped his head with his index finger.

"Don't you have people to kill, lives to ruin, families to tear apart Kenny." Nick spat back. "Or is that something you started doing again after Uri died." He hissed.

"I see what you're doing Nicky boy." Kenny quiped. "That won't work on an old man like me, you see, I've killed more people to last me a hundred lifetimes... you however." He gestured to the two unconscious men. "Couldn't even kill two men who actually deserved it in my humble opinion, oh well, I'll kill them when you leave."

"That's exactly why mom stopped talking to you, you're a psycho, you enjoy killing people just for the thrill of it, you're no better than these two." Nick also gestured to the men he fought.

"But you see Nicky boy, I am better than them, I didn't get the shit kicked out of me by a kid with a sliver spoon stuck up his ass." He retorted. "I mean seriously, didn't your mother teach you how to kill people properly, not this pussy bullshit."

"Because unlike you, my mother actually has morals you crazy fuck, you know what morals are right, oh wait, you grew up in the Underground? Right? No wonder you're so fucking stupid!" Nick shouted at him.

"Wow, that hurts you know." Kenny tried to fake some sadness, however seeing Nick blankly stare at him made him stop. "Really? Not even an ounce of sympathy for your extremely sad uncle?" He asked. "No? Alright then, nice to see your emotions bursting out your body."

"Fuck you." Nick replied.

"Didn't know you were into that kinda stuff Nicky boy." Kenny commented. "Maybe I should've let these guys take you if you're interested in guys like that." He joked.

"Oh wait." Kenny spoke up once more. "Frieda, that was her name, wasn't that the girl you wanted to fuck the shit out of, a bit young for my taste though, a bit crazy too if you ask me."

"Shut up." Nick said, however even the dim lighting wasn't hiding the growing blush on his face at the lewd thoughts that Kenny had suggested to him.

"That's it isnt it, you have a thing for crazy girls don't you?" He sarcastically asked while laughing his ass off at Nick's reddening face.

"Nick, will you please hit him?" Frieda asked him.

" _With pleasure."_ He replied back to her using his thoughts, which Frieda had been able to see while he was thinking of himself and her in some extremely "compromising positions."

"Did it get you off when she called you a sinner." He laughed more and more. "I bet it did, Frieda sure was a feisty one wasn't she-" He didn't get to finish his sentence as Nick had punched him square in the nose, hearing it crack as it did made Frieda very satisfied.

"Wow Nicky boy." Kenny started, putting his broken nose back into place as he got closer to Nick. "That actually hurt, I'm hurt that you would do that to your beloved uncle, but enough about my feelings, we're going to fight now."

"Fine by me." Nick replied. "Don't complain when you eat through a straw for the rest of your life when I'm done with you."

"I like the confidence kid." Kenny replied. "I won't beat you up too badly though, still need some entertainment by watching you stumble through the Undergro-" He didn't finish his sentence again as Nick had lready punched him in the face once again, putting Kenny's nose back out of place again.

"Now that... was dirty." Kenny jested, putting his nose back in place for a second time. Then quick as a flash he came forward at Nick who barely had time to block the punch before it most likely broke his nose, Kenny then followed up with a ruthless assault on Nick, there was no hesitation at all in his strikes despite the fact that he was fighting his own nephew, he was also having fun while constantly breaking through Nick's defense with his barrage of attacks.

" _Fuck me, he's even faster than mom."_ Nick thought, still unable to get off of the defensive as Kenny just kept coming at him over and over again. Nick was hurting now, he would never admit it though, but Kenny was far stronger than he was at this point in time, however after one of Kenny's punches Nick went for a haymaker straight at his head. Kenny though, saw this coming a mile away and managed to tilt his head to avoid the blow completely and spun around and delivered a fierce elbow straight into Nick's nose, the crunch of the bone making him very satisfied at the damage that was done, to put the final nail in the coffin, he grabbed onto Nick and slammed him onto the ground and put his boot onto Nick's chest, leaving him groaning in pain.

"Wow! I gotta admit Nicky boy, I aint had fun like that in years." He said. "Sadly though, much like your painfully obvious love for the craziest chick on this island, all good things must come to an end, although, I do find myself wondering how she tasted, but I guess you'll never get to find out."

Nick could only groan in response to his obvious dig at him.

"What? No smart ass remark about me? No rage induced attack to defend her honour or some shit like that?" He asked. "Looks like you're finally growing up Nicky boy."

"Looks like my work is done here." Kenny spoke up once again, lifting his boot off of Nick and started to walk away.

"Aren't you going to bring me back?" Nick asked, finally being able to sit up while holding his bloody nose.

"Nah." Kenny replied. "It'll be more fun watching those MP idiots chase you around the whole district than bring you back."

"You're fucked up, you know that right." Nick responded to him.

"It's all part of the charm kid." He resppnded, walking up the stairs and out of sight from Nick.

"What a fucking asshole." Nick muttered while getting to his feet and grabbing his bag that was still lying on the floor of the dark tunnel.

"How did you even put up with him?" Nick asked, still holding onto his broken nose.

"He was mostly around my uncle Uri." Frieda replied. "And then he usually only dealt with my father, even when I was the Queen."

"Anyway, we need to keep going down the stairs to reach the Underground." He went on, continuing to walk down the staircase.

"Then you're going to see a doctor down there." Frieda commanded. "You need to get your nose set back into place so your nose doesn't end up crooked."

"I'm not going to see a doctor down there." He replied. "They'll have needles lying all over the place!"

"It's either that... or I could sing to make you feel better." She replied.

"You wouldn't."

"I would." She confirmed.

"But... you can't sing Frieda." He protested. "I'd rather listen to cats raking their claws down a chalkboard." He declared.

"Well... that's the two options you have." She replied.

"Well... doctor it is."

(25 minutes later)

"And how exactly did you break your nose young man?" The female doctor sternly asked while setting his nose back into place.

"A fight." He simply responded.

"And who were you fighting?" She asked.

"... My Uncle."

"And why were you fighting with your uncle?" She asked once again.

"Because he's an asshole, and he thought it would be entertaining."

The doctor sighed at this as she placed a bandage on his nose to cover up the bruising on his nose along with a splint to keep it in place.

"Now take your hoodie and shirt off." The doctor commanded him.

"Why?" Nick asked, not understanding why he had to do it.

"I saw you wince when you sat on the table, which indicates that you have an injury to your ribs." She explained.

"I don't have a rib injury." He protested, only to hear Frieda begin to sing to him.

Frieda then began to sing using the highest pitch voice she could muster, dragging out the last words of each line out purposely to get him to relent from being so stubborn until he finally snapped from her awful singing voice.

"Fine, I'll take the hoodie and shirt off." He relented, knowing that Frieda had beat him this time.

Once he had taken his hoodie and shirt off he was given a smack on the side of his head by the doctor. "Don't be so stubborn, I only want to help." She said while gently pressing on his ribcage where it had started to turn green and purple where Kenny had managed to get hits off on him.

"I can't feel any breaks or fractures." The doctor told him. "You're lucky they are just bruised." She said. "I'll get some Ice to keep the swelling down." She said as she left the surprisingly clean room to get sone Ice for him.

" _When did you learn how to sing that song?"_ Nick asked once the doctor left, sitting in just his pants and shoes on the counter.

"Why? Want me to sing it again?" She teased.

" _The song is good... when the person singing it can actually sing."_ He deadpanned.

"To answer your question, I saw it in a songbook at your house once, when I thought I could sing." She admitted.

" _You know what the words mean?"_ He asked her.

"A little." She admitted. "It's a very hard language to learn."

" _Marleyan is a hard language to learn if you don't start early on_." He admitted. " _But your pronunciation of the words was... adequate_."

He was taken out of his thoughts by a knock at the door as it slowly opened, revealing a girl that was about his age, holding a cloth wrapped around ice in her hands.

"Mom said to give this to you." The girl said, handing him the cloth and swiftly exiting the room before he could even get a word out.

"That's cold." He muttered while holding the cloth onto his ribs that were bruised.

"She was... interesting." Frieda spoke up.

" _She, said seven words before leaving Frieda, "interesting" is not the word I would use at all."_ He replied to her, relishing the coldness from the ice on his ribcage.

"Yeah, but she was pretty." Frieda commented. "You don't think so?" She asked.

" _Whether or not I think she is pretty or not doesn't matter in the slightest Frieda, what could I possibly gain by admitting that she is pretty?"_ He asked.

"You could get a girlfriend, or at least a friend Nick, you've been so lonely this past year." She told him.

"I don't need friends." He replied. "It only leads to more harm than good, especially for me."

"Who were you talking to?" The doctor asked as she stepped back into the room.

"Myself." He replied.

"Right." She seemed skeptical at his answer. "But thats all I can do for you just now, you're welcome to stay here until the ice melts, but please stay out of trouble from now on." She said. "I'd rather you not be coming back here on a regular basis if you keep fighting your so called uncle, I may have some experience in the medical field, but I'm not an actual doctor." She told him.

"Actually." He spoke up. "You might be seeing a lot more of me for the next few weeks or so." He admitted.

(22 hours later)

"Are you sure this is the place?" Frieda asked him, seemingly put off by the metal door to the warehouse that he was told about earlier in the day.

"This is the place." He confirmed to her before knocking three times of the metal door.

After a few seconds, a slit in the door opened which revealed a pair of eyes looking at him.

"Whatcha' want?" The man asked him.

"I wanna make some money." Nick replied, which was the apparent code phrase to get into the club.

"Aint' you a little young to make money boy?" The man asked once again.

"Aint' you a little stupid to turn someone who would willingly come here away." Nick shot back at him.

"Fair enough." The man grunted, closing the slit and unlocking the door from the inside to let Nick inside.

"Challengers meet the boss before fighting." The man explained. "Last door on your right, only knock twice." He told him before closing the door once Nick had entered.

Once Nick reached the last door on the right, he knocked twice on the door like instructed and waited for the door to open. After about thirty seconds, the door opened, the person who opened the door happened to be a women in her mid twenties, but Nick kept his mild surprise hidden by keeping his blank look on his face.

"Hmm." The woman pondered. "Aren't you a little young to be a challenger?" She asked him like the guard at the door had done.

"Is there an actual minumum age to compete here? Or are you actually concerned for my wellbeing?" He sarcastically asked.

"Fair enough." She conceded. "Been a while since we've had some fresh meat anyway, I'm sure our champion will love you." She said, stepping past him and gestured for him to follow. As they were walking there was a thunderous cheer that went through the warehouse, signalling that the current fight had ended. "The crowd is gonna love this." The boss muttered to herself, opening a door which seemed to be a changing room of some sorts, a filthy, disease ridden changing room.

"Hey Doc!" The boss shouted. "We got one more to go!" She yelled. "Listen up kid." She redirected her attention back to Nick. "The Doc is gonna tape up your hands so that you don't break your fingers with one punch, the only rule is no killing, everyting else is permitted." She explained. "Once I announce you, go down that tunnel and when the horn goes off, don't stop till he's down." She said as she walked down the tunnel that she had mentioned beforehand.

"What are you doing here!" A familiar voice exclaimed, he turned to see what he assumed to be the daughter of the doctor that he saw yesterday standing infront of him, her eyes wide in shock.

"What is it dear?" The doctors voice came from down the tunnel as she saw Nick once again. "You aren't serious about being here are you?!" The doc exclaimed.

"I am, now please tape up my hands." He said, holding out his two hands for the doc to strap up.

"It's your funeral then." She sighed before beginning to work. "If you're really serious about this, then I'd suggest not wearing a shirt to fight him, the champion is rather... grabby." She explained as she finished his left hand.

"I know how to fight." He said. "I wasn't going to wear a shirt anyway, It gives the opponent less chance of getting a hold of you." He explained to her.

"You better hope so, the guy out there is no joke, he has a thirty five win streak." Her daughter spoke up. "He fights dirty, that's why he's never lost."

"No." Nick interrupted. "He's never lost because he's never fought me before."

He recieved another smack to the head by the doc for that statement. "Don't be so arrogant, he will break you if you're not careful out there."

"I'll be fine." He brushed their concern off like it was nothing as he removed his hoodie and shirt once the doctor had finished.

"Ladies and Pigs!" He could hear the boss shouting from the end of the tunnel once the crowd had settled down. "We have time for ONE. MORE. MATCH!" She yelled, getting a roar of approval from the crowd.

"We have another challenger for the title of champion tonight, and I gotta say, he's got a real pretty face ripe for pummeling!" She got another roar from the crowd.

"But enough of that, lets introduce the fighters!" She yelled, the crowd cheering around her. "In the champions corner, with a THIRTY FIVE win streak, I give you, Pablo Gutiérrez!" The crowd then erupted at the announcement of the current champion.

"And in the challengers corner, we have some more FRESH MEAT!" She shouted as loud as she could, which gave Nick the signal to walk out into the arena he would be fighting in.

"Fresh Meat, Fresh Meat, Fresh Meat!" The crowd continued chanting as Nick emerged from the tunnel to the sight of a six foot tall bald man infront of him, soaking up all the cheers he was getting as well as chanting fresh meat alongside the crowd.

Once he got a look at Nick he couldn't stop himself from laughing at the sight of a teenager that had come to fight him. "This is who the challenger is, seriously, the only thing going for him is that body of his." He pointed out. "Hey Kid! I know someone who could take good care of you, maybe I'll go easy on you."

The horn sounded which signalled the start of the fight to which Nick stood still in the stance that was engraved into his muscle memory after years of training with his mother.

"Guess I'll come at you then!" Pablo shouted after noticing that Nick wasn't making any movements towards him. He shot forward and swung his fist straight at Nick's bandaged nose only to see his stroke deflected upwards by Nick as he was clocked in the jaw which sent him back.

"Looks like we've got a challenge here!" The boss called out, surprised that Nick deflected the strike so easily.

"It's gonna be a challenge for him to wake up once I'm done!" Pablo roared, coming at him once again, his anger getting the best of him. He tried to hit Nick with a haymaker only for Nick to duck under it and sweep his legs out from underneath him and walk over to the champions corner, mocking Pablo as he did this.

"That all you got?" Nick taunted him.

"Looks like the challenger has the upper hand here!" The boss called out, getting a roar of approval from the crowd.

"No!" Pablo yelled out. "This is my title, not yours!" He shouted, rushing at Nick once again, only to get a shin to his thigh, causing him to stumble as Nick brought his knee up to his face which broke his nose and then threw him back towards the challengers tunnel where the doc and her daughter were watching, their eyes wide in surprise at how easily the champion was being thrown about.

"That's it!" Pablo roared, pulling a knife from his back pocket and began to run at Nick, knife in hand.

"That is not against the rules!" The boss reminded everyone.

Nick had also paid attention to the only rule that was no killing and pulled the switchblade from his pocket and brought it up to block the blow from Pablo's knife.

"You little shit." Pablo growled. "Fuck the rules, I'm going to gut you." He spat at Nick, going for a strike at Nick's exposed abdomen, only to have his arm grabbed and twisted by Nick's hand which forced him to drop the knife which was kicked away by Nick as he threw Pablo back once again and then put his own knife away.

Pablo then rushed at Nick, not having learned his lesson that Nick had superior strength and technique to his fighting style, as he easily dodged his first punch and hit Pablo in the gut. He avoided another punch and hit him in the face this time, making him stagger back, he tried to come at Nick again only to recieve an elbow before he could react and Nick finally finished him off with a roundhouse kick to his head which left Pablo on the floor and unconscious.

The whole warehouse was stunned at the manner of defeat that the champion had suffered, he had seemed unbeatable and some even thought he would keep the title for years to come, but the fresh meat that Nick had been dubbed had completely dominated the fight and had humiliated Pablo without taking the smallest his whatsoever.

"We have a NEW CHAMPIOOOON!" The boss yelled out, which was followed by the deafening roars of the crowd who had seemed to greatly approve of the way that Nick had beaten the former champion.

"Hey kid, what's your name?" The boss asked him.

"Nick." He told her.

"Last name?" She asked.

"Don't use your actual name." Frieda recommended. "That will cause problems for you.

"Frieda." He said, saying the first thing that came to his mind when it came to names, it was clearly a flase name, he could blame Frieda for that since she was talking to him right as he gave his name.

The boss gave him a look of suspicion, seemingly not believing the rather strange surname that he had given her.

"Here's your new Champion, Nick Frieda!" She yelled out once again.

"I want a rematch!" A voice yelled from down the tunnel Pablo had been dragged through. "I refuse to believe that this... this child can defeat me!" Pablo yelled, emerging from the tunnel.

"Well then." The boss spoke up. "We have another match coming right up, sound the horn!" She yelled.

The horn went off once again, Pablo coming straight at Nick once again, this time a bat in his hands.

"Not against the rules." The boss reminded.

" _I can't block a metal bat with my bones, that would be stupid."_ Nick thought, leaning back to avoid the bat as it hit the concrete floor, giving Nick the chance to knee him in the gut which sent him back, but the bat still in his hands.

He swung the bat at Nick again but he stepped forward towards him, catching his arm inbeteen his him and arm, Nick twisted his body and brought up his knee and broke his arm at the elbow joint and swung his right elbow at his face which was swiftly followed by another roundhouse kick which sent him back down sprawling back towards the ground, unconscious again to be dragged off once again.

The boss then entered the arena and lifted Nick's hand into the air, signifying that he had indeed won his second match in a row.

" _Surely it has to get tougher from here, this wasn't even a challenge, and he was the champion."_ Nick thought, not believing how easy it was to defeat the reigning champion.

" _Seems I was right about this, that was very entertaining."_ Kenny thought, stepping out if the audience before Nick could catch sight of him. " _It'll be even nore entertaining watching that idiot Nile try to catch him, maybe I'll watch from the shadows."_

(6 days later)

"How's my favourite champion?" The boss asked as she came into the champions changing room, he still hadn't learned her name despite being the champion and having defeated nineteen people in the past five days since his arrival, but the record number of wins in a row was forty nine, but the champion at the time had mysteriously disappeared without a trace, but that had been about seventeen years ago, when the fight club was run by the father of the boss before handing the reigns over to her.

"Fine, who's the next one?" He asked, wanting to get the next fight out of the way.

"This match will be a... special match, you could say." She started off with. "Instead of fighting the usual shitheads you usually beat the shit out of, you will be facing the champion of the fight club at the other end of the Underground." She explained.

"So..." He asked, not getting how the match was considered to be special.

"It will be a fight to the death." She told him. "Losing club has to shut down, losing champion loses their life, you will be fighting with a sword and a shield each." She explained to him.

"And if I refuse?" He asked.

"I'll hand you over to the Military Police minus a few appendages, they've been snooping around the district for a teenager of your description." She said. "Must be important if Commander Dok is leading the search."

"Yeah... something like that." He said. "Fine, I'll fight the guy." He said, standing up as she handed him a standard longsword and a circular metal shield that was strapped to his left forearm.

"I assume you will win, if not for me then maybe for the child of the doc, you two seem to get along pretty well."

"She's... bearable." He replied.

"Don't dissapoint me." She coldly told him, walking off to announce the two fighters.

"Are you really going to do this?" Frieda asked him. "You could always run, I don't doubt that you could fight your way out."

" _Frieda, I came here to experience the true brutality of the real world, not the perfect life that I was given to me because I was lucky enough to be born as a Noble child_." He told her. " _This is the real world Frieda, not that fantasy world they like to live in Mitras_."

"I know that." She protested. "But killing someone, that's just ridiculous!"

" _This is the world we live in Frieda!"_ He yelled at her. " _We can't be free from these walls with Rod and his band of idiots ruling over us."_

"And who would you rather have, some other stuck up Noble that only cares about themself instead of the people in the walls!" She shouted back.

" _Honestly, I'd have Zackly put in charge for a while, despite his clearly obvious distaste for the Royal Government, I think he does have humanities best interests on his mind_." He told her.

"What makes you think he has the capabilities to rule over humanity, even for a short amount of time?" She asked.

" _He did work with the Scouts to imprison Lofov when he tried to take their funding away and put it to his own use_." He pointed out

"I remember that." Frieda stated. "My father plotted several times to have Zackly removed from his position because of that, but apparently his spotless record was a problem, he needed public opinion on the Governments side, not Zackly's."

" _The censorship of the media certainly helps his cause."_ He sarcastically replied.

Frieda was about to respond until Nick's name was announce to signal that he needes to step into the arena so that the fight between the two major fight clubs in the District could begin, and so that Nick would hopefully be able to prove himself once more.

Once he entered the arena, he could only be shocked at the champion that stood infront of him, the man was about six foot three with muscles upon muscles on his body, he also had strange markings around his body, seemingly foreign to anyone else but Nick could read them, he was fluent it reading, writing and speaking Marleyan after all. The symbols on the man's body depicted the great Titan war in words such as "Devils" and "Slave Blood" written all over his body, there was also the fact that he had "Warrior" written on his head in Marleyan.

"So you're a warrior?" Nick asked him, the only markings on his body were the bandage that was on his nose and the small amount of bruises he had gained from his previous fights.

The man eyed Nick cautiously before he spoke up. "You can read it, I'm surprised, not many can read this ancient language." He replied.

" _Does he not know what language it is?"_ Nick asked himself.

The horn then sounded that signalled the beginning of the duel to the death between the two champions.

"Come on then!" Nick yelled. "I'll show you how a Devil fights!" He roared, charging at the man.

He charged forward to test the defence of his opponent, he swung his sword downwards at him, only to have it blocked by the shield the man was using, he then tried to slash him, only to have it blocked once again. Nick then stepped back, inviting the man to attack him so that he could gauge his skill and strength. The man swung his sword at Nick's side only to have it blocked, but he also swung his shield at his face, the sword Nick carried unable to block the power behind the swing, breaking through his defence and bashing the side of Nick's face.

Nick was sent sprawling to the ground, dropping his sword out of reach as he was only left with the shield for defence. His opponent stabbed towards his chest as Nick moved the shield to block the strike, twisting his body on the dirty floor and kicked the sword out of his hand.

The man then tried to slam his shield onto Nick's knee in hopes of breaking it to seriously limit his movement, Nick just managed to kick the shield away before it made contact, stinging his foot slightly. He then kicked the man's feet from underneath him and scrambled to his feet and rushed over to where his sword was, picking it up once again, his bare back all scratched up from moving around on the uneven concrete floor.

His opponent had also managed to get up and recover his sword in the time that Nick had been able to recover his. They both then started to circle around the arena, sizing each other up, during this, Nick took the time to read more and more of the markings on his body, realising that there were at least three different languages on him, not just Marleyan.

He was pulled from his examination as he was rushed by his opponent, raising his shield to block the sword attack, while the sword rebounded he twisted his body to avoid the blow from the shield to his right and once he had fully twisted brought his sword upwards towards the arm holding the shield and cut through to the bone where the sword got stuck. He had to quickly pull it out, grinding against the bones in his forearm as it did. Unfortunately the man was still able to hold the shield up even with his damaged arm.

The man then started spouting some words towards him in a language that he recognised but didn't have a clue to what he was saying.

"What's he saying?" Frieda asked him.

" _I don't know, but he's speaking the native language of the Asian clans."_ Nick replied. " _I wonder how he learned it, there's barely any Orientals left if the walls if any after all the persecution."_

Sorry to disappoint, but I don't have a clue to what you're saying." Nick spoke up.

"Don't speak formally to me scum!" He shouted. "I'm not at some dinner party with you."

"Sorry, I talk like this so idiots like you can understand me." He retorted, seeing his eyes twitch in anger.

" _Good."_ He thought. " _Anger leads to mistakes. And his mistakes, will lead to his death."_

He was rushed once again by the man, sword raised and ready to pierce his heart, Nick moved the shield to deflect the blow towards the left, using the oppurtunity to swing the sword down and straight through his wrist, severing it completely. He didn't stop however, bashing his shield against his opponent's, causing the injured arm to fully break from the impact caused from the two shields bashing into each other. He then sliced at the shield, causing further pain for the man, causing him to drop his arm while Nick sliced at it again, cutting straight through on his other arm this time.

Once the second arm and only defence left was gone for him, Nick brought his sword back and lunged forward, the sword going into his opponent's throat and coming out the back, he slowly withdrew the blade, sending the man to his knees abd quickly sliced across his neck, severing his head from his body as it rolled off to the side and then kicked the headless body onto its back.

Once the body was on the floor, Nick quickly disposed of his sword and shield and examined the markings even further to see if there was any other words he could translate.

" _There's something about someone called "Helos" here."_ He told Frieda. " _It also says that he was the one to slay the Earth Devil. Do you know anything about this?"_ He asked her.

"Helos was a myth created by Karl Fritz and the Tybur family to worsen the Eldian Civil War before he moved the majority of the Eldian population to Paradis." She explained. "The idea was that the Marleyans should have a hero to help them start a civil war to overthrow the Eldian Empire, but that was over a hundred years ago."

" _Then how has it ended up on his body?"_ Nick asked.

"The only ones that knew about it was Karl Fritz and the head of the Tybur family at the time, perhaps he found the markings somewhere and became obsessed." She offered up.

" _That is a possibility."_ He admitted. " _But it's unlikely, it's also possible that he is a descendant of the Tybur family that knew and left for the walls all those years ago."_ He presented a theory of his own.

"We should keep the body intact so we can translate the rest of the markings." She suggested. "But we need to get to the surface for that. How will we get the body up there?" She asked.

" _Don't worry about it Frieda, Kenny is in the crowd, he's an idiot if he thought I didn't notice that stupid hat he always wears, he'll probably take it to the surface when we leave."_ He told her. " _Probably make a game out if it, sick bastard."_

Hey everbody!" Someone in the crowd shouted. "We got MP's raiding the building!"

" _They're here for me, I wonder who they sent?"_

"Military Police!" One voice shouted. "Out of the way!" They yelled, trying to push through the angry crowd, looking for their target so they could bring him back. The first one to make it to the edge of the crowd spotted him kneeling next to the dead body and started shouting. "He's in the middle! Don't let him escape!"

" _They sent the Commander after me, they didn't even bother sending the First Interior Squad, it should be easy to escape from this idiot."_

Don't move." Nile yelled, jumping the barricade and rushed towards Nick, who had begun reaching for one of the weapons on the floor.

 **A/N - This chapter took a significantly shorter amount of time to write but I guess thats what happens when you're in the groove. I wonder who held the previous record at the club, seeing as the champion vanished before Nick was born, and right at the time where the purge of the Ackermans stopped?!?!?!?. I also have to wonder what the writings on the dead man's body say, could be nothing, could be everything, could be something. There will probably be one more chapter of the past after this, then onto the present where Nick has Annie where he wants her, in the middle of nowhere and no way to transform. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!!!**


	26. Memories of the Past : Part Two

He managed to reach the shield that was laying next to him and managed to bring it up to block the blow fron the stock of the rifle that Nile had tried to hit him with.

"Put the shield down Nicholas." Nile said to him, trying to calm Nick down after showing his agressive side towards him, already knowing about the training Nick had done from an early age from the research he and his men had done before tracking him to the underground with the help of Captain Ackerman from the First Interior Squad.

"How about you cut the pubes off your face first." Nick spat back, not enjoying the fact that Nile had tried to knock him out.

"What?!" He gasped.

"You heard me." Nick told him. "Commander facial pubes." He said, swinging the shield at Nile, hitting him head on, causing him to stumble back to the ground. At this point, three more MP's had managed to get through to the arena and pointed their rifles at Nick.

"Don't shoot you idiots!" Nile yelled at them, but with all the noise that the crowd were making the only word they could hear was "shoot", so they followed the orders that they had heard and all fired simultaneously at Nick.

Nile looked on in shock as his three subordinates had just shot at one of the most important people in the walls, he was the only child of the head of the Royal Assembly, if he died then Nile might as well cut his own head off and serve it to the Royal Assembly on a slived platter, all he had to do was follow the orders he had been given, "Locate and Retrieve Nicholas Meier by any means necessary."

The three metal balls that had been fired from the muskets were travelling fast enough to turn Nick's insides into mush if they hit the right places, what's more is that they were all aiming at his chest, he would not survive three metal balls travelling at him faster than the sound that was produced by the firing of said metal balls.

Seeing that he had not expected the incoming projectiles coming towards him, he could only flinch in shock and stare at the three MP's in disbelief, the only positive he could take from that moment was the sound of the balls clanging off the metal shield he was holding in a defensive stance, three small dents where the balls had embedded themselves once the vibration of the shield had stopped.

The sound of the three gunshots had also silenced the crowd that were currently trying to prevent any more MP's from getting through to the arena, even the Infamous Kenny the Ripper had stopped laughing at the "entertainment" he was getting from watching Nile and his idiots fight his nephew, even he could not stop the look of shock coming across his face as he saw the three men wit their smoking guns pointed at Nick, only to start laughing hysterically once he saw the metal balls embedded in the shield Nick was holding.

"YOU IDIOTS!" Nile screamed at them. "I SAID, DON'T SHOOT!" He continued his shouting with. "We were supposed to retrieve him! Not kill him! Why did you decide to-" Nile was then cut off from talking to them as a shield with three metal balls in it crashed into the face of an MP, knocking him out cold instantly, the one next to him tried to swing the barrel of his gun at Nick, only to have it bashed away by the shield as he recieved a jaw shattering uppercut from the shield bearer, knocking him out instantly with a broken jaw, the third MP tried the same thing as the one before him, swinging his gun at Nick, only to have the gun wrenched from his grasp and have the stock of the gun being swung ferociously at the side of his head and crack the wooden stock as it impacted against his skull.

Nick was absolutely furious now, surprisingly not at the fact that the three MP's that got the beat down of their lives had tried to shoot and kill him, but the fact that they had unintentionally also tried to kill Frieda, she was inside his head, and since the power of the Founding Titan was stolen she couldn't move her consciousness to someone else's head, meaning that she would be with him until he died, and her going along with him, and he was not going to let himself die until she witnessed her dream, the walls being rendered useless, and the people of the walls being told the truth about the world.

Nile could only watch in horror as three of his best men had been rendered useless by a fifteen year old boy, much less one from Mitras, they were supposed to be useless, not have the combat prowess of a military veteran. " _Holy Shit!"_ Nile thought. " _What's he going to do to me?!"_ He wondered, subconsciously backing away from the rage filled Nick.

However to Nile's surprise, he turned tail and ran down a tunnel at one end of the arena, he stared at the tunnel before regaining his senses and began to bark out orders. "Spread out!" He yelled to the MP's that were still capable of movement. "Cover all the exits, don't let Meier escape! Failure is not an option!"

Once Nick had reached the slightly less filthy changing room, he quickly threw on the plain black T-Shirt and hoodie that he had worn that night, he was about to run for it until he heard the familiar voices of two females he had met on his first night in the Underground.

"Let go you pig!" One if them shouted. While the other was less calm about it. "Get your hands off my daughter you filthy bastard!"

" _Fuck me and my golden heart."_ Nick sighed, running down the corridor that the voices had originated from, once he rounded a corner he could see Mrs Douglas and her daughter Lavender being harassed by some guy that frequents the club, Nick would know since this guy constantly bets against him, claiming he gets lucky evertime he fights.

"Let go!" Lavender screeched, still trying to pull away from his grasp.

"Come on hot stuff." He flirted. "I'll show you a good time."

"Let go!" She shouted in his face, her mother also trying to get him off of her daughter but to no avail, that was until she was pulled back slightly as a metal shield collided with his head, sending him to the floor.

"What?" Lavender asked, shocked at what had just happened.

"Come on." Nick ordered. "We have to go." He said, grabbing her hand and dragging her and her mother who was holding her other hand down the corridor and to the right where the exit was. They hurried towards the metal door, noticing that the guard was gone, making it easier for then to get out. Nick quickly opened the door and then grabbed her hand again and ran out the warehouse, leading them down one if the streets as he noticed that some MP's had managed to follow them out and began to give chase, he could also hear Nile shouting out orders to not shoot out of fear of what would happen to him if Nick was returned either dead or with a bullet wound on his body.

Back at the club where things had calmed down since the MP's had all left to go after Nick and the two women he was dragging along, Kenny Ackerman had just finished laughing at how badly the three idiot MP's had been beaten down by Nick after they had shot at him, he was about to leave until he noticed the strange markings on the guy that Nick had killed during their sword fight. He reluctantly let his curiosity get the better of him and walked over to examine the body.

"The fuck does this mean?" Kenny asked out loud, scratching the back of his head in confusion.

"Guess I'll take it to Roddy." He thought out loud once again. "Be funny to dump a dead body on his dining table, wonder how he'll react." He spoke, hoisting the body over his shoulder and proceeded to make his way towards the Reiss Family Estate.

While Nick was running along the streets if the Underground, the MP's had activated their ODM gear in an attempt to out manoeuvre Nick as they were managing to get further away from them, it didn't help that the citizens were doing their best to get in their way either.

One of the soldiers had the great idea to use his gear to attack Nick from above in an attempt to restrain him by tackling him from above, however Nick saw through this and when he was closing in on him, Nick backhanded the man with the shield he was carrying and sent him flying into a pile of wooden crates, taking him out of the equation of escape for the moment.

"Nick, you should surrender." Frieda suggested. "It'll be better if they don't see you as a threat to their safety."

" _I won't leave these two to their fate down here, they helped me."_ He told her. " _So I'm going to help them however I can."_

"Any you're going to do that how exactly?" She asked him, curious to how he wanted to repay them.

" _Citizenship in Mitras_." He replied, shocking Frieda in the process.

"You've really grown attached to the girl, haven't you?" Frieda teased him.

" _She reminds me of you."_ He stated. " _She didn't judge me at all, even after watching my fights. She always tried to make conversation."_ He said, pulling the pair of females around a corner and into an alley with a door at the end.

"Come on." Nick said. "Through here." He told them, trying the door at the end of the alley, with it not budging in the slightest.

"Stop running Nicholas." Nile said from the other end of the alley. "There's no escape." He stated. "So stop this nonsense and come back to Mitras."

"Fuck off Nile!" He shouted, shielding the two women behind him. "I'd rather have a Titan eat me than have to look at that pathetic escuse for facial hair any longer than I have to. So run back Mitras and have them send the First Interior Squad, at least they're capable of doing their job!" He shouted.

"There's nowhere to run to, the door behind you is locked and you won't get past us over here." Nile told him in an attempt to make him surrender before any more of his men took a beating from their target.

"It's funny you say that Nile." Nick said, gaining his attention. "Because the door looks open to me." He said, turning around and kicking the door open with all the strength he had in his leg, sending splinters of wood flying as the door swung open, for the three to enter.

"Get inside!" Nick yelled, pulling both of the women inside after him as he swiftly shut the door and placed the shield between the door and a piece of concrete jutting out of the floor, stopping Nile and his soldiers from breaking down the door as the tried to push it open.

"Open the door!" Nile yelled from the other side. "You're making this more difficult than it has to be!" He shouted, but since he didn't get a reply he spun round to give his men orders. "Circle around and surround the building. Don't let him get away."

"What about the two girls with him?" One of the officers asked. "Do we take them in as well?"

"No, leave them be." Nile commanded. "It's obvious that he cares for them or he would have left them behind, and I don't want to see him angry again." He said, shuddering at the thought of the stock of a rifle cracking against his head.

"So..." Lavender started. "Why exactly are the Military Police chasing you?" She asked, wanting to get straight to the point.

"I... ran away from home." He said. "I wanted to join the Cadet Corps this year, but I was too late to join."

"What does that have to do with the Military Police being after you?" Her mother asked.

"I wanted to see if I could survive in the real world, where people have to kill just to survive. I figured if I could do that then the training would be no problem for me." He told them, sitting on a crate before speaking up again. "The world above ground where I live is just pure fantasy, where they pretend everything is perfect, and there is no threat to our existance."

"Where do you live?" Lavender asked him.

"I live in... Mitras." He told them, expecting them to be angry at them for not telling them the truth and that he had a great life above ground, but he was shocked to see not a hint of anger on either of their faces, confusing him even more. "You're... not angry at me?"

"Why would we be?" Lavender asked. "It's not your fault that you live there, in fact, I'm happy for you." She said, smiling at him as she did.

Nick let a small smile come across his usual emotionless face, because she really was like Frieda in some sense, in that she was extremely nice to him, and never judged him at all. But unfortunately for him, the two other females noticed the smile and teased him about it.

"Are you smiling?" Lavender asked, smirking at him as she asked the question.

Quick as a flash, the smile disappeared, replaced by his usual blank emotionless face. "I was not smiling. I had something in my eye." He replied, trying to play it off.

"Yes you were." She replied.

"I was not."

"Actually Nick, you were indeed smiling." Her mother spoke up.

"Hmph." He replied, crossing his arms and turning his head away from them, but that didn't stop them from seeing the faint red his cheeks had turned.

"Enough teasing Lavender." Her mother said. "But I do have some more questions for you Nick."

"What?" He asked, still moody from their aforementioned teasing.

"How did you know that man that was chasing you?" She asked him.

"I don't know him." Nick replied. "But I do know who he is."

"And who is he?" Lavender asked before her mother could.

"His name is Nile Dok... he's the Commander of the Military Police." He replied, not seeing the importance as to why it mattered who was chasing them.

"You must be pretty important if the Commander of the whole Military Police is chasing you around the Underground." Lavender spoke up.

"That's where you're wrong." Nick replied. "He is only the Commander of the MP's who don't belong to the Interior Branch." He told them. "The Interior Branch has a seperate chain of command, they report either to the King, or the Royal Assembly, giving Nile absolutely no power over them."

"So you are important!" Lavender shouted. "I knew it, you looked far too cute to be fron the Underground!" She stated. "Oh... did I say that out loud?" She asked no one in particular.

Her mother could only snicker to herself at the choice of words that her daughter had shouted out loud while Nick was right across from her. Nick could only feel his face get hot at the mention of being called cute by another girl his age. He had been called cute by Frieda in the past, but that was before she had eaten her Uncle Uri, and he was too young to understand what it meant at the age he was at now, and since he had made a grand total of two friends in his life, he had absolutely no experience with girls his own age, or what to say in situations like this, luckily for him, Frieda decided to "help" him.

"Looks like someone has a crush." Frieda chided in with.

" _Quiet you!"_ He snapped, annoyed that she was trying to make him blush even more than he was at the monent.

"Right." Nick spoke up, still not sure on how to respond to that, but he did manage to notice that her face was redder than his at the moment. "We need to figure a way out of here, without me having to fight them all off. I may be able to fight, but I'm not an army." He spoke up.

"Of course!" Lavender spoke up, the redness from her face totally gone now. "How about the hatch on the roof." She said, pointing up at it for Nick to see.

"That's a bit high Lavender. Don't you think so too Nick?" Her mother spoke up, the roof was at least fifteen feet in the air, and there was only one crate in the room, which meant either they could go out the door or...

"No." Nick said. "It's a bit risky, but I could throw one of you up to it, and then hope you find a ladder or rope so the other two can get up too." He explained to them.

"Why can't we lift you up there?" Lavender asked.

"I'm heavier than I look, I doubt you could throw me the small distance between us on top of each other and the hatch."

"But there must be like no fat on your body at all." Lavender reminded him, her face becoming slightly red at the thought of his naked torso.

"Muscle weighs more than fat Lavender." Her mother reminded her.

"And you'd be surprised at how strong I am." Nick stated.

"Oh really?" She asked. "What's the most weight you can consistanty lift?" She asked.

"Two hundred and seventy five pounds." He said. "My max was three hundred and twenty."

"Oh." She replied. "You'll catch me if I fall right?" She asked, glaring at him after he failed to answer for the first few seconds.

"Yes I'll catch you." He replied. "Maybe." He muttered to himself.

"Come on." He said, holding both of his hands down for her to step on, she stepped onto his hands while she gripped his shoulders so she didn't lose balance while he was holding the bottom of her feet. "Hold your arms straight up, It'll keep you balanced." He told her as she shakily lifted her arms up, managing to keep her balance as Nick slowly lifted her up towards the hatch in the roof.

Once she had been lifted above his shoulders he had just come across a serious problem with the plan he had developed. " _She's wearing a skirt."_ He realised. " _Oh shit! Just don't look up."_ He told himself, but he then realised that he wouldn't be able to see what he's doing.

"Hey Lavender?"

"Yeah." She replied.

"I need you to tell me where the hatch is."

"Just look up." She said.

"I won't do that Lavender."

"Why not?"

"You're wearing a skirt." He replied, his eyes glued to the wall infront of him.

"Oh right, well it's right above me, but its just out of reach." She said as Nick's arms had fully straightened out, trying not to wobble despite how light she seemed. When she said it was just out of reach, without warning he bent his knees and arms slowly, and quickly thrusted them upwards, throwing her towards the handle on th hatch in the ceiling that she just managed to get a hold of before falling to the ground.

"You got it?" He asked her.

"She seems to be trying to twist the handle." Her mother replied, watching since Nick refused to.

"I got-" She was cut off as the hatch opened downwards, causing her to scream and lose her grip as she fell towards what would have been a very painful landing if Nick hadn't caught her bridal style, with her wrapping her arms around his neck as she landed.

"Can you let go?" He asked after a few monents, with her letting go and dropping to the floor as he noticed a length of rope had dropped from the roof.

After Nick had climbed the rope and onto the roof, he took notice of how none of Nile's men had used their gear to watch the roof of the building. After helping Lavender and her mother out of the building they dropped down onto the street below, constantly using alleyways and dimly lit streets to avoid any Military Police that happened to be patroling the area, knowing that Nile had probably sent a drawing of him to all the MP's in the area. They had successfully managed to get back to the house/clinic that Nick had been invited to stay at since he didn't have a home in the Underground.

"What if they manage to track us here?" Lavender asked, now getting more and more worried for her and her mothers safety.

"Unless they followed us here, which they didn't, I doubt they could find us." Nick stated. "The records involving the Underground were put on hold when the city was deemed a failure." Nick explained.

"How do you know so much about things like this?" Lavender asked him.

"I spent a lot of time in the National Archives." He told them. "And I enjoyed reading about the history of the walls when I was younger. It also helps that I can gain access to practically every building in Mitras."

"Could you get into the palace?" Lavender asked.

"I could get as far as the front door, but without documentation you can't get in, they're really strict about it." He said. "But the "King" lives there, so I'm not really surprised about the security."

"So... what now?" Lavender asked after a few minutes of silence.

"You two." He pointed at them. "Will stay here and lay low for the next few days. I stil have some things to get to down here."

(3 days later)

The past three days have been rather quiet in terms of action for Nick, there had been the odd occasion where someone had tried to threaten him due to his age, but they were put in their place, usually after yanking their weapon from their hand and a death glare from him. While he had told Lavender and her mother that he had some things to take care of in the city, that was so he could search for information about the mystery man he had fought three days ago the night Nile and his band of idiots showed up to bring him back.

He hadn't been able to find a single piece of information on the man, not even a name, even the owner of the other fightclub had no idea what his name was, only that he had shown up about two months ago and tore apart all the competition, well, until Nick had removed his head from his body. This had stumped Nick even more, but he was sure that if he were to look at the books at his house that were preserved from before the walls were erected, combining that with the strangers body, hopefully he would be able to translate the rest of what was on his body, the only problem was Kenny, he had either left the body at the club, or he had taken it to Rod, which would probably result in the destruction of the body at his request.

" _Selfish bastard." Nick thought to himself._

He was currently walking along one of the streets where the shady market stalls were, where they would scam anyone that seemed less than adequate at buying and selling. He was quietly walking along until a middle aged man approached him who seemed familiar to Nick.

"Excuse me young man." The stranger said to him. "But you wouldn't happen to know how to get to the nearest bar, would you?" He asked.

"Have we met." Nick bluntly said, searching his brain for any indication that he had seen him before.

"Djel Sannes. First Interior Squad." Frieda told him, explaining why Nick would have remembered him, since he was from Mitras.

"No. I don't believe we have." The man replied. "I'm sure I would remember someone as blunt as you."

"You need to run. Now!" Frieda yelled in his ear.

"Are you sure, because I could've sworn we've met before." Nick said to him, grabbing his arm in a vice grip, not letting go as he reached for the switchblade in his pocket, flicking it out and holding it against the man. "I never forget a face." Nick stated, until he remembered where he had seen him, it was only a short glance, when he was nine and was at the Reiss Estate to talk to Frieda and Florian when he had seen him leaving with someone else.

"I remember you." Nick stated, pushing the knife harder against him. "Reiss Estate, six years ago, I was nine, Frieda was thirteen, Florian was five, we were talking about the outside world, ring a bell?" He asked, he remembered that vividly, mainly because it was the first time he and Frieda had talked about what was outside the walls. She had brought a book about the outside world, it was banned but she didn't seem to care at the time.

"He's onto us!" Djel yelled, startling Nick as he managed to pull away from him as about twelve MP's dropped down off the rooftops and into the street below where Nick was.

" _Shit! I fucked up!"_ Nick thought to himself, as the MP's got closer, so he did the most natural thing to him, fight back against them, he rushed at one and cracked his nose with an elbow and moved onto the second, and swung his fist at him, connecting with his forehead, knocking him out. Then someone wrapped their arms around his waist from behind and lifted him off of the ground to which he swung his elbow back until he was dropped on the floor, only to be tackled onto the floor by another.

He managed to wriggle free and kick the man in the face, getting him to back off, that was until three men dove into him, struggling to keep him pinned with all the thrashing he was doing, that was until four more men, including Djel came to hold him still.

"Keep him still." A woman's voice called out, Nick looked over to see a blonde women, rather tall with her hair tied back and in the standard uniform for the First Interior Squad, but he also noticed the needle in her hand, and began to thrash more violently agaist the men holding him down, his right arm breaking free and he started to swing at then men, managing to knock two off of him until he felt the needle enter the skin of his neck while he wasn't paying attention, falling unconscious almost instantly.

(3 days later)

"Do you think he left without saying goodbye?" Lavender asked her mother, her face full of worry at the thought of Nick having been gone for three days straight.

"I don't think he would have darling." Her mother replied. "He may have been difficult and very stubborn, but I could tell he had a pure heart, it isn't in his nature to just up and leave."

"And you know this how?" Lavender replied bitterly.

"You really like him." Her mother said, it wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"He was different from the rest." She said. "He was nice, even if he rarely showed it, he also took no nonsense from anyone, even if they were twice his size. He never even gave me a second glance." She slumped over at her own thoughts.

"I wouldn't say that, he clearly liked you enough to save you from that pig." Her mother replied.

"The exit was that way, he had to pass us anyway." She told her mother.

"There was a much shorter route from the changing room to the exit, he went out of his way to save you from that man." Her mother explained to her.

"You think so?" Lavender asked.

"I know so." She replied.

Lavender then sighed in sadness. "It's not like I'll ever see him again." She muttered. "Why would he come back down here again, he probably hates it here."

She was stopped from continuing her speech because there was a knock at the door which usually meant that someone needed patching up by her mother, she begrudgingly got to her feet to answer the door, only to be shocked that it was Nick that had answered the door, except he looked a lot cleaner than he had before when he was last seen by her.

"You came back!" She shrieked, lunging forward and wrapping her hands around him as tightly as she could, as if she was trying to squeeze the life out of him. Nick on the other hand, hadn't expected this, so he just awkwardly patted her on the back as she kept squeezing him.

"Looks like Nicky got a girlfriend." One voice from behind him tried to tease, until Nick spoke back to him.

"Another word out of your mouth Anton, and I'll have you cleaning toilets with your toothbrush for the next year!" He hissed back at the voice.

Lavender looked up to see five others with him, three men and two women, there was four MP's with Interior Branch on their uniorms and another man holding a crate and wearing a suit and tie.

"Who are these people?" She nervous asked him, having MP's showing up to your home in the underground was not usually a good thing to happen.

"They're with me." He explained. "I wasn't lying when I said I was important in Mitras." He said. "Can we come in?" He asked, surprisingly politely actually.

"Uh... sure, come in." She gestured for the six of them to enter."

"You may want to sit down with your mother now." He suggested. "I'll have Gerald here explain everything." He gestured to the man with the crate in his hands.

"Right then." The man known as Gerald spoke up. "Mr Meier here has informed me of your living status in the Underground District. He has also expressed his wishes for me to change your living status."

"What does that mean?" Lavender asked.

"Basically." Gerald looked at Nick, who nodded at him for me to continue. "Mr Meier has asked me to forge some documents such as birth certificates and the like so that you two may live in the Inner District." He explained to them.

"What?" They both asked, dumbfounded at the suggestion he was making.

"Since you two have no records in the National Archives, I assume you were both born in the Underground." Seeing them nod, he continued. "What Mr Meier has asked me to do is to create a "history" you could say, for you two, which includes birth certificates, school enrolment in the Capital, and trivial things such as doctor visits. The likelihood of these forgeries being found are slim to none, but I have still brought the required documentation for you to fill in, If you fill in the informatiom required for the both of you, the documents will be backdated to the appropriate dates, which in turn, will make you official citizens of Mitras." He finished off with.

"Are you being serious!" Lavender shouted at him, standing up.

"Deadly." Gerald replied. "But that's not all, he has also asked me to forge school records for you Ms Lavender, so that you may attend University in the Capital, If you wish to of course." He told her. "And for your mother, a basic medical license, so that she nay practice medicine in a... clean environment." He finished off with. "So what'll it be?" He asked them.

"I... I don't know what to say." Lavender said, on the verge of tears at the kindness being shown to her and her mother in return for nothing at all from Nick.

"You could just say yes." Nick bluntly replied, leaning on the wall next to them.

"When can we start?" Her mother asked, eager to get going so that she and Lavender could begin a new life on the surface.

"We can start at once." Gerald announced, only to be cut off by Nick.

"They aren't filling them in here Gerald, they can do it at my house." Nick informed them, signalling for all of them to follow him out of the building and to the surface.

(8 hours later)

Nick had spent the better part of the day in his room with the books he had "acquired" from the basement of his house, it was a metal door that had multiple locks on it, obviously nobody was meant to get in, but after "borrowing" a hairpin from his mother and a knife from the kitchen when one of the maids wasn't looking, he had set off to pick all five locks that prevented the door from being opened.

"Do you always disregard the rules as you please?" Frieda had asked him at the time, while putting absolutely no effort to stop him.

" _I think that they've realised that I won't change my mind Frieda."_ He reminded her. " _Whether it's for joining the Cadets, or exploring my own house."_ He told her.

After he had managed to get the first four locks off the door quite easily, he struggled quite a bit with the last one, after spending around twenty minutes on it with no success, he resorted to swinging an axe at it, his strength combined with the sharp blade making quick work of the last lock as he opened the door and ventured down the staircase to aquire all the books that he would need for the reaearch he would be conducting on the mysterious language he couldn't read at all, it didn't help that the body had completely disappeared, leaving him with the faint memory of the writing to work with.

That was how he had spent at least five hours in his room while Lavender abd her mother were enjoying the food and drink offered to the richest in Wall Sina while filling in the required documents for their citizenship on the surface.

Nick was currently looking through a book on the the language of Hizuru, the nation that the Asian Clan hailed from, he was having absolutely zero luck when it cane down to symbols he recognised and it didn't help that the book was written in Hizurian, meaning he also needed a Marleyan to Hizurian dictionary, which was not helping at all, since the dictionary was written in letters, while the book only used symboly that didn't make sense to him.

He was seriously tempted to light the books on fire, but he refrained from doing so as his mother entered his room.

"What are you up to?" She asked him, noticing the pile of books on the desk he was sitting at.

"Learning that Hizurian is impossible to learn." He replied, turning to face her, with his eyes bloodshot from all the work he was doing.

"So it was you that broke the lock on the basement door." She stated.

"Couldn't pick the lock." He replied.

His mother sighed before speaking up again. "And the girl you brought here?" She asked. "What about her?"

"What about her?" He asked.

"Why are you helping her?" She asked him.

"She reminds me of Frieda." He replied. "Someone like her shouldn't live down there, they deserve to be as free as possible."

"Hmm?" She replied, smirking at him. "Nothing else going on?" She asked him.

"No mom I haven't fucked her, and I don't plan on doing it." He said, knowing what she was trying to imply. "At all." He emphasised.

She was going to scold him for his choice of language, but decided against it since he looked like he needed sleep more than anything else, and he also looked really stressed.

"How long have you been reading those books?" She asked, moving towards him.

"About five hours." He replied, letting out a yawn after he finished.

"You look tired." She observed. "Really tired, your eyes are bloodshot and you have bags under your eyes." She told him.

"I'm fine." He tried to protest. "Just need something to eat."

"No." She said. "You need sleep." She told him. "You won't be able to work if you tire yourself out like you've been doing."

"I'm-" He was about to say he was fine, until his mother grabbed his arm and forced him onto his bed in a sitting pisition while she sat next to him and pulled him into a hud, his face in her shoulder.

"What are you-" he tried to protest, only for his mother to tighten her grip on him, even Nick knew there was no escape from her grip when she didn't want to let go.

"Close your eyes." She commanded. "It'll be better if you went to sleep." She suggested.

As he closed his eyes, he slowly hugged his mother back, surprising her since it was the first hug she had recieved from him in the better part of a year, back before the wall fell she recieved a hug from him every few days at the minimum."

"You better not tell anyone about this." He mumbled into her shoulder, his eyes feeling heavier as his breathing began to even out as he was slowly overcome with the need to sleep.

"Don't worry." She whispered. "I wont tell a soul."

Once she had reluctantly let go of him so that he could sleep on his bed comfortably, she took notice of how peaceful he looked while he was asleep, he usually looked so serious or emotionless while he was awake, so she took the time to admire the young teen that her baby had grown into.

"Your father may be seriously against you joining the Military." She said to her sleeping son. "But I will always support you, and I believe that you will save us all." She said, kissing him on the forehead, noticing him start to smile in his sleep as she left the room without a sound, letting him enjoy the rest he needed.

 **A/N - That was the last chapter of the past, but now for the Clash of the Titans arc, where Nick and the others will clash on their methods for trying to get another Titan on their side, especially after Mikasa turned up unconscious in Stohess. I wonder how Eren will react??? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	27. Clash of the Titans : Part One

When Annie woke up from her unconsciousness, her eyes felt like they were being stabbed by the early afternoon sunlight, it also didn't help that the sun was bearing directly onto her, as if she was set up this way. It was at that point she remembered reaching the top of the wall, then the faint memory of being cut out o

f her Titan form back in Stohess. She tried to stand only to see that legs were tied together while her arms were no longer there, the flesh stopping at the shoulders where there was a slow amount of steam being produced as her body tried to heal itself.

She knew she couldn't transform in her current state, not while her body was focused on healing her wounds and not after transforming a short while ago. Once she had stopped struggling she had the time to take in her surroundings, the only things around were a river and a horse that was tied up against a tree with some supplies laid up against the tree.

"You're awake." She heard a voice from her left side, turning her head she saw Nick, no longer wearing the MP uniform but wearing something that seemed foreign to her, it looked extremely expensive, she hadn't even seen that quality of clothing in Marley.

"What are you wearing?" She asked, half curious as to what it was, and to why he was wearing it underneath his ODM Gear that looked like it had just been cleaned.

"Clothes." He responded simply, not getting why that would be the first thing she said when she woke up. "They're a lot less itchy than the standard military uniform." He explained. "And I think it looks great on me."

"You look like an idiot." Annie deadpanned. "I'd rather look at Eren when he goes on about his Titan killing fantasy."

"I'm sure I could arrange his fantasy to start off with you." He said back to her, seeing her shut up and pale made his point. "That's what I thought."

"Would you care to explain why my legs are tied up and why I have no arms?" She asked, wanting to get straight to the point.

"I tied you up in case you woke up and tried to run." He explained. "And your arms had nearly grown back, so I cut them off again." He said nonchalantly, as if it was a normal thing he had done.

"There is literally no point in doing that." Annie quiped. "I only need an injury to transform, did you forget that?" She asked, trying to scare him.

"But that's not true Annie." He replied, getting her interest. "Using the power of the Titans takes a great toll on your body, and while your body is in a constant state of recovery." He gestured to her non existant arms. "You can't transform."

"That's, that's not true!" She tried to protest, now realising he had her where he wanted her, in the middle of nowhere with no way to transform and get away.

"Now that's out of the way." He spoke up, sitting down on a bearby tree stump as he did. "I have some questions I want to ask."

"I won't tell you anything!" She shouted at him.

"Sure you wont." He deadpanned. "I know that there's four of you inside the walls." He started off with, with her getting confused at the mention of there being four of them. "I know that you're the Female Titan, Reiner and Bertholdt are the Colossal and Armoured Titans." He said. "But what Titan is the fourth one?" He asked her.

"There's only three of us inside the walls." She argued against him.

"Don't play dumb with me Annie!" He snapped at her. "I know Ymir is a Shifter like you three idiots."

"Why would you think that?" She asked him, still confused at his accusations.

"Her name is YMIR, the very first Titan Shifter, ring any bells?" He asked. "Is she the Beast Titan?" He asked.

"No, she isn't with us." She further protested.

"Then would you care to explain the bright light in the winter training exercise a few months ago." He said. "Because it's either her, Krista or Daz, It can't be Krista, and Daz is either the greatest actor in the world, or he gave up on your idiotic plan." He explained. "So which one is she."

"I don't know!" She continued on with her story that Ymir wasn't working with them. "She wasn't with us when we started the mission!"

"Then who was?" He asked.

"Me, Reiner, Bertholdt and..."

"And who?" He asked.

"Our leader." She said. "His name was Marcel, he was the Jaws Titan." She told him.

"He's dead, isn't he?" Nick asked her, guessing that from the way she talked about it, something bad had happened. Seeing her nod was al the conformation he needed.

"He was eaten after we arrived on Paradis Island." Annie spoke up. "I wanted to go back, but Reiner convinced me and Bertholdt to continue with the Mission."

" _So Ymir is the Jaws Titan, but that would mean that she was a mindless Titan."_ He thought to himself. " _But for how long exactly, she could be over a hundred years old at the most."_

"She isn't a hundred years old." Frieda spoke up. "But I think Annie is telling the truth about Ymir and her friend Marcel."

" _Yes it would seem that way Frieda, but there's other things we need to talk about, Like Marco for example."_

"I'll leave you to it then." Frieda said, going back to observing once again.

"Annie." He said, talking to her after a few minutes.

"What?" She spat back at him, clearly unhappy at him for the moment.

"Why were you wearing Marco's ODM Gear in Stohess?" He asked. "And why did you present his gear when Section Commander Hange's Titan test subjects were killed?"

"Who told you that?" She asked, refusing to look at him.

"Doesn't matter." He said. "But what does matter us why you killed him, did he find out about you three? Or was it something else?" He asked her.

"He... We were discussing what we would do next since Eren had just sealed the hole we created." She replied. "There was a Titan nearby, so I went to kill it. When I came back... Reiner had Marco pinned to the roof of the building."

"Why?" He pressed on.

"Marco overheard Reiner and Bertholdt talking about their Titans while I was away." Her voice was breaking as she relived the memories. "He cried out for me to help him, said that Reiner had gone crazy, I didn't want to do it!" She cried out. "But that bastard Reiner blackmailed me, he threatened my father, the only family I had left. I had to prove to him that I wasn't showing any compassion for your "evil race" as he liked to call it."

"So you took off his gear and left him to be eaten." Nick finisher off for her. "Correct?"

"I didn't want to do it!" She cried out again, tears in her eyes at the thought of having to kill Marco just to appease Reiner and his Marleyan loyalty.

"I get it." He spoke up. "And before you say I don't, I get that you had to make a choice at that moment. Whether to side with Reiner, or Marco. You can't change what happened, and in your shoes, I probably would've done the same thing."

"But what I don't get." He said before she could speak up. "Is why after telling me you wouldn't talk, you're telling me all of this."

"I just want to see my father again." She said. "He said he'd always be there for ne, that he'd always understand me, because I was his daughter."

"Why are you here then?" He suddenly asked her.

"What?" She asked, confused at his question.

"Why are you here, on Paradis Island, instead of living with your father back on the mainland?" He asked.

"Because I was forced to!" She shouted at him, getting more and more angry at him.

"By who?" He asked. "The Marley, or your father?"

"I..." She had to think about this, the easy answer would obviously be to reply with Marley, but then again, her father was the one that forced her to train everyday with little to no breaks, and he was the one that enlisted her in the warriors programme when she was just a child. No he was trying to get under her skin and into her mind to trick her. "What's your point!" She seethed, furious that he tried to use her father against her.

"Your hesitation to answer the question then your anger gives me the answer I wanted." He told her. "Your father forced you, didn't he?"

"No! You're wrong!" She protested. "My father cared about me, he wouldn't-" She was cut off as Nick smashed the bottom of his shoe into her nose, breaking it and successfully getting her to stop talking as she cried out in pain.

"Face the facts Annie." He was dangerously close to her face now, his face blank of any emotion, something she had rarely seen from him. "Your father used you, he was only after whatever the Marley offered in return for making his child into a weapon for them!"

"Citizenship." Annie said after he finished berating her. "They offered Citizenship for Eldians and their families if they became warriors for the Marley Military."

"Citizenship in Marley?" He asked her, curious as to what she meant.

"Honorary Marleyans." She said to him. "Nearly the same rights as normal Marleyans, we still had to live in Liberio though." Before he could ask, she elaborated. "Liberio is a walled city in Marley, All Eldians in live in internment zones, Liberio is where I'm from."

"And the other two Titans, the Beast and Cart Titans, who has them?" He pressed on.

"Our War Chief Zeke has the Beast Titan power, and a girl named Pieck has the Cart Titan." She told him. "But Zeke is Marley's strongest warrior, even I couldn't beat him in a fight."

"So, now that I have everthing I need, what am I going to do with you?" He asked out loud. "From what I've gathered, you have three options, I kill you right now, but then yur power is given to a newborn child, which I don't have the time to search for right now."

"Option two is that I feed you to a Titan, with or without your consent, that way I can control who has the power of the Female Titan, but then I would have to waste time finding a Female of a suitable age to be trainee in hand to hand combat and simultaneously help them control their powers, which I also don't have the time for."

"Or there is option three, you join us in the fight against Marley." He told her. "While the chances of you being killed are still high, they are slightly lower than the other options on the table. And I can't promise things will be the same, they wont. You will be hated by most people, but I think they could see the importance of having you as an ally instead of an enemy."

"You'll get to see daddy either way." He mocked. "Just a different timescale for each option."

"Fuck you." Annie spat at him. "Why haven't you killed me, huh!" She shouted. "Do you even care what happens to me?"

"I think you're misreading the situation here Annie." He proclaimed. "I do not care about you any more, I did, but that was before you revealed yourself to be a part of the attack on Shiganshina."

"I never said-"

"You didn't need to, there were far too many Titans that day for it to be natural, you led them there, you created this hell for us all, you killed two hundred and fifty thousand people, just because you wanted to see daddy again." He seethed at her, not holding his anger back any longer. "You killed her! You-" He stopped, realising that he lost his cool, and had inadvertently given her leverage against him in the form of someone.

"I always thought you were strange Nick." She started off with, starting to smile. "A noble from the Capital comes to join the Military, I wouldn't have seen that coming at all. But I know your secret."

"What secret?" He asked. He didn't have any secrets, well, none that she would've been able to figure out, certainly not without access to Mitras.

"You. Are. A. Fritz." She said, smiling as she did so.

" _That's... not what I expected at all, maybe I'll entertain her sheer stupidity."_ He thought.

"Its hardly stupid Nick." Frieda countered. "It's not hard to come to that conclusion, well with the information she had it would be logical to assume that."

"Thats... an interesting theory." He said to Annie, who was grinning like an idiot. "Except... I'm not an subject of Ymir." He told her, dispelling her theory altogether.

The grin on her face was replaced by a frown. "But you know the real Royal Family?" She asked.

"I do." He confirmed. "Not the nicest bunch still around." He said. "But at least they don't attack their own race."

"You're... Impossible!" She shouted out, frustrated that her attempts of turning the tide of the conversation had failed, until an idea popped into her head once she had noticed something on his left arm, specifically his wrist.

"Hey Nick!" She shouted at him once he turned his back to her to get something. "Who's Frieda?"

He whirled round faster than ever before after hearing her name spoken from someone else's mouth, she had no right to speak her name, even thinking about it made him furious, so when she said it his blank facade began to crack.

"Who is she?" Annie asked. "Is she the girl you were just talking about?" Annie asked as Nick strided over towards her, his fists turning white at how hard he had clenched them. "Or was she just some whore that you spent your money on?"

Nick was seriously regretting not wearing long sleeves now, she had seen the tattoo he had gotten done after Eren's trial, that was the reason he arrived in the early morning the day they shipped out to the Scouts. He would never get a better chance in the near future to get something to remember her by. So he had her name tattooed in neat cursive across his left wrist with three hearts below, signifying how much he meant to her, and Annie had called her a whore, boy was she gonna get it now.

Once he was within range he swung his foot at her head, only to see her duck under it and kick her legs that were still tied together at the back of his other leg, causing him to fall onto his back right infront of her. She brought her legs up and swung them down at his face, breaking his nose upon contact, she had expected this to knock him out, so she was surprised when he shoved her legs off his face and got up once again, blood from his nose getting onto his top.

"That, was a bad idea." He hissed at her, reaching forward and grabbing the remains of her hoodie, wrenching her forward as his knee crushed her nose in return, except hers would heal in hours while his would take weeks, she still wasn't out cold yet so he threw her back against the tree, the collision causing her to bleed from the back of her head, blood staining her hair as he shot his foot forward, crushing her head between the tree and his foot, knocking her out this time.

"That was a bit excessive." Frieda commented, seeing that Annie was barely breathing.

"She broke my nose." He retorted. "And she'll be fine."

" _She'll also be lucky if I find a Titan big enough to eat her in one bite."_ He bitterly thought as he put his nose back into place, one of the many things he learned from his stint in the Underground.

"I gave her a chance." He muttered out loud. "Looks like the legs are coming off as well."

(Several hours later, Stohess District)

Mikasa slowly woke up from her unconsciousness where upon trying to get up she felt a pain on the side of her face and down her left leg. That was when she had remembered what had happened during the battle, Nick had beaten her unconscious while saying he did it for the greater good. " _Why?"_ She thought to herself, leaning up to get a good look at her surroudings, when she looked to her right she saw that Eren was also lying down in a bed, sleeping peacefully.

"Eren." She groaned out, it hurt slightly to talk, but she didn't do much of that anyway, so it wouldn't matter that much. She moved the covers off of her and stood up and nade her way to the chair next to Eren's bed, sitting in it to watch over him while he slept.

"Mikasa!" She heard a voice come from the doorway, she hadn't heard the door open at all, she turned her hea to see Armin and Jean standing at the doorway. "Are you okay?" Armin asked as they stepped inside the room. "What happened when we left?"

"I'm fine Armin." She dismissed his concern, focusing on Eren for the time being.

"What happened out there?" This time it was Jean that asked, pressing the issue she didn't want to talk about.

"My gear malfunctioned." She lied to them, why she didn't know, she just automatically did it. "It failed, and I crashed. End of story."

"You expect us to believe that!" Jean yelled. "Who did it!?" He demanded.

"Calm down Jean." Armin pleaded. "Please Mikasa, tell us what happened when we left?" Armin kept the questions up, wanting to know what happened to his friend.

Before she was given the chance to answer, the door opened behind them revealing Captain Levi, and he didn't look happy at all, he was never happy, but he looked angrier than usual. "Kirstein, Arlert." He spoke. "It's your turn to give statements on what happened today."

"Yes Sir." They both responded, albeit reluctantly, leaving Levi, Mikasa and Eren in the room.

"You look like shit." Levi commented on her appearance, the bruise on the side of her face had turned purple already.

"I would ask you what happened but I have a pretty good idea of what happened." He told her. "Meier attacked you to get you out of the way, then he took off with the Female Titan before she could get over the wall. Does that sum it all up?" He sarcastically asked.

"That's not what happened." She responded. "He wouldn't help her, not after what she did. He wouldn't."

"Sorry to say this, but he did help her." He told her. "And what's worse is that we can't do anything about it, not while Erwin is still in custody."

"Why?" She asked. "Why did he do it?" She asked him. "There has to be a reason."

"I don't know." He said. "But if it were up to me I would cut his tongue and feed it to him."

Before she could respond Eren began to stir, alerting them both to his awakening at the moment. "Eren!" Mikasa cried out, glad to see he was okay.

"Captain Levi?" Eren groaned out, Levi being the first one he had set his eyes on once he had opened his eyes. "What happened, where-" He stopped himself when he saw the massive bruise on Mikasa's face. "What happened?!" He demanded.

"Don't ask what happened Eren." Levi commented. "You should probably ask who did it." He said, leaving the both of them in the room.

"Who was it?!" He nearly shouted at her, struggling to control his temper at the moment because someone had hurt his sister. "Was it him?" He asked. "Was it?"

"Yes." She whispered, while she had lied about it to Armin and Jean, she couldn't bring herself to lie to Eren about it.

"I'm gonna kill that bastard!" Eren seethed. "Where us he?" He asked, attempting to get out of his bed.

"He's missing." She responded. "He... ran away... with Annie."

"What?!" Eren asked, even he was shocked by that. "So he was working with them."

"No he wasn't." Mikasa responded. "He isn't like that, he wouldn't."

Before Eren could say anything else Armin burst through the door shouting at them. "Eren! Mikasa! They've broken through Wall Rose! The Titans! They're coming!"

(Several Hours Earlier, South of Wall Sina) 

After his "argument" with Annie which had resulted in Nick recieving a broken nose for his troubles, which was apparently caused by his "poor" negotiating skills according to Frieda, he had cut off her remaining appendages so that there was no chance that she would be able to fight back for a good few hours at least, he had also strapped her to the back of his horse, keeping her in place with some rope he had "borrowed" from the Scout's HQ before departing for Stohess.

In the forty minutes or so that had passed since they had fought, he had moved them both further to the south east, where the rest of the 104th were stationed. He currently had them waiting in the tree line of a forest about 300 metres to the north east of the compound, waiting for any sign of movement from Reiner, Bertholdt or even Ymir, though his number one safety concern was Krista as she liked to be called by him, if they tried to take her then there would be no Royal Blood left on Paradis except for Rod, and that was not an option in Nick's mind.

From what he had recalled from the discussions with Commander Erwin, the man in charge of the 104th was Section Commander Mike Zacharius, the second strongest soldier humanity had to offer, and also the strangest to Nick, because sniffing people was weird, no matter who you were.

Nick was currently sitting against a tree while he ate some lunch, some dried meat he had managed to keep in somewhat edible condition for some time, which went nicely with the rather stale bread he had to force down with the water from his water skin. Halfway through his piece of bread he saw movement of the roof of the main building, followed by the faint figure of a soldier going to the window if the second floor then going back up to the rooftop.

" _I wonder what's going on."_ He thought to himself. "Any guesses Frieda?" He asked her.

"Maybe a combat drill?" She offered up. "Or maybe they were just lazy." She tried to joke with him.

"I doubt that Frieda, the Section Commander wouldn't put up with that." He told her.

"What could it be then?" She asked him.

"Did you just feel that?" He asked her, feeling the slightest of tremors in the ground where he was now standing. "There it is again." He pointed out. Kneeling down to the ground and placing his palms against the grass, closing his eyes so he could focus solely of the tremors of the ground.

Once he stood up, he was quite shocked at his own thoughts. "Titans." He said. "They're here, inside the walls." He told Frieda. "They're mobilising, that's what's happening there." He said, quickly moving to down his food and put all the necessities back onto his horse so he could and saddled up, ready to move out.

His suspicions were confirmed when he saw soldiers and cadets alike all riding out of the compound, moving southwards while they were presumably being given orders by Mike Zacharius who would have to take charge of the situation now.

"You can't take her with you." Frieda said, gesturing towards the limbless and unconscious Annie on the back of his horse.

"I can't just leave her here." He protested. "Who knows how long this could take to clear up." He told her. "For now, she stays with me." He said, riding out of the forest to try and assist with the killing of the Titans in the near vicinity.

As the Scouts and the cadets of the 104th rode out of the compound with Section Commander Zacharius giving them orders. "The second the Titans reach the woods we split up!" He ordered. "I want four separate teams, recruits and soldiers alike in each unit! When I give the signal, we'll scatter in different directions simultaneously. Get the word out to civilians. Do not engage the enemy!" He looked back towards the cadets. "Which one of you is the nost familiar with the area?" He asked.

"Me Sir!" Sasha raised her hand while riding her horse. "My hometown is just to the north of here." She told him. "I know this region like the back of my hand. Connie too, go on tell him." She said while Connie kept quiet and kept looking forwards.

"What's wrong?" She asked him after he didn't respond.

"My village is to the south." Connie said. "That's where the Titans are coming from." He pointed out. "I can lead you to nearby settlements." He told the Section Commander. "But afterwards, let me go home, please?" He asked him.

"Very well." Mike conceded to his request. "Guide the southern team and then go to your village." He said to him.

"Yes Sir!" Connie responded.

"I'll come with you." Reiner offered, riding up alongside him.

"What?" Connie asked in disbelief. "No, you're crazy, they'll be everywhere!"

"You think I care?" Reiner asked him. "I was gonna help you get home anyway, wasn't I?" He said to him. "What about you?" He asked Bertholdt. "You coming?"

"Of course." Berthold replied after a few moments. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

"As you have guessed, today marks the darkest day in humanities history." Nanaba stated to the recruits. "Look sharp! If ever we needed to give our all that time is now. Don't lose heart!"

"They've reached the woods!" A scout called out. "The enemy is on top of us!"

"Scatter now!" Mike yelled. "Ride for everything you're worth!" He roared as the Scouts and cadets all split up into four teams to warn the towns and villages about the incoming Titan threat. However as they began to split, the Titans started sprinting at them, coming at them at full speed.

"No, they're coming at us full tilt." Mike said as he turned his head to look at the incoming swarm.

"Holy shit!" Connie swore as he saw the incoming Titans as well.

"Gelgar!" Mike yelled at the top of his lungs, turning his horse to face the incoming Titans as he charged straigh towards them. "Take charge of the southern team!"

"Sir?" Gelgar asked confused at first. "Uh, understood." He said, mainly to himself and the Scouts around him.

"Tell me he's not using himself as bait?" Lynne asked.

"I'll go with him, I can help." Another Scout offered up his help to Mike.

"Stay where you are." Gelgar ordered. "We can't spare anymore soldiers." He told him. "Give him some credit, that man's skills are second only to Captain Levi." Gelgar told them. "He'll survive, count on it!"

(20 minutes later)

" _Whoa!"_ Sasha thought in awe as she exited the treeline after seeing a Titan's footprints on the way to her home village, Dauper. " _When did that get built?"_ She thought, in awe of the new buildings at her village. She continued to ride on her horse as she reached a bridge that had been raised on one side, clearing the jump easily on her horse to get across the river.

Inside one of the houses, there was a middle aged woman slowly being eaten by a Titan that was about three metres tall, her legs slowly being devoured as her daughter sat inside the building with them, not knowing what to do.

That was until Sasha who had picked up an axe from outside the house started to swing it at the nape of the Titan as it was crouched down. She was constantly swinging it down at the nape of the Titan, constantly trying to get a clean cut but she was getting nowhere apart from getting some Titan blood on her. " _Shit!"_ She thought. " _If I don't cut it off, it'll just keep healing!"_ She thought as she lost her grip on the axe, sending it flying into a beam getting it stuck up there.

Sasha cried out in fear as she lost the axe, slowly stepping away from the Titan in fear of it trying to eat her, until she noticed the little girl once again. "Oh no." She whispered to herself, realising the choice she had to make now.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered at the mother, walking past her and the Titan towards the girl at the far side of the room as she grabbed the girls hand and began running out of the house with her in tow, while the Titan stopped eating the woman and now focused on the two females trying to get away from it.

"You got a name sweetie?" Sasha asked, trying to keep the girls mind off of the Titan behind them as they ran towards the horse that Sasha had tied up to a pole.

"I know you're scared, but it'll be okay." Sasha tried to tell the girl as she untied the horse from the pole it was tied to.

"What will?" The girl asked.

Sasha turned around, trying to find a suitable response to that question. "Uh, I, actually, Uh." She said as the horse snorted, getting Sasha to turn around again towards it. "Easy now, easy." She tried to calm the horse down, the reigns still in her hands.

"Right so the thing is im gonna take you to-" She turned back to the girl to speak once again but the horse behind her ran away, causing her to shriek in fear. "You do this now!" She shouted at the horse that was running away. "Wait for us!" She yelled, trying to whistle the horse back to her.

"Okay, no need to worry, understand?" She said, turning back to the girl once again seeing that her horse was not coming back. "He'll be right back, I promise." She told the girl, trying her hardest not to panic.

"How come you're talking so nice to me?" The girl asked, stopping Sasha from whistling for her horse once again.

"Huh?" Sasha asked, only to hear the Titan coming towards them, seeing it emerge from the house that it was still in.

"We need to run." Sasha said to the girl, grabbing a bow and four arrows from a neaby crate and grabbing the girls hand to start running again.

"It's gonna be okay!" She shouted out as the Titan started to follow the pair of them away from the house.

"No it wont." The girl said. "Everyone's already gone." She told her. "The whole village, even though mommy's legs were bad. They knew, and none of them came to help her, all I could do was watch."

They kept running towards the raised bridge that Sasha had came across on her horse, with her throwing the bow and arrows over first, followed by the girl, bur she looked over her shoulder to see the Titan still coming at them, causing her to speed up as part of the bridge gave out under her, only her grip on the bridge keeping her from falling into the river below and up after the girl.

"Don't look back! Just keep running!" Sasha said to the girl, still running with her away from the Titan that was struggling to get over the bridge after it's foot went through the part that collapsed underneath Sasha. "It's gonna be okay." Sasha whispered as they kept on running.

(Flashback)

"You're starting to piss me off." Ymir stated as she walked up to Nick and Sasha as they were collecting buckets of water from the well.

"Why you gotta be so friggin polite all the time?" She asked.

Sasha could only laugh nervously as she was trying to avoid the question in favour of collecting the water that she and Nick were supposed to.

"What? You above talking like one of us pleebs?"

"Uh, well, actually-"

"Maybe she talks like that so dipshits like you can understand what she's actually saying." Nick interjected. "Or can you not understand the fancy language we speak?" He sarcastically asked.

"What? You wanna go Meier?" She asked, angered by his choice of words.

"I can kick your ass with my arms tied behind my back Ymir." He told her. "Doesn't bother me cause I'll win anyway."

"Was that slang I just heard from you Meier?" She rhetorically asked. "Didn't think they raised you to be an animal in the interior."

"I didn't think you were raised to be a bitch. Or is that the standard attitude for street rats?"

"And what about her." Ymir pointed at Sasha, ignoring the obvious comment that Nick had made against her. "Scared we'll find out where you're from if you let your guard down?"

"That's it isn't it." Ymir stated after Sasha remained silent. "Oh wow, kinda blows my mind. Why do you even care? It's like a wild boar getting all bent out of shape cause someone's bad mouthing him behind his back. Be honest, the Military is your last hope of being respectable-"

"How about you shut the fuck up before I cut your tongue out of your mouth Ymir." Nick threatened. "As far as I can tell you're not a lizard, so it's not like it will grow back."

"Stop it, both of you!" Krista demanded. "You're both being mean."

"Whatever." Ymir said, shoving Krista aside. "Hey! Are you gonna pretend to be someone you're not for the rest of your damn life or are you gonna be Sasha."

"Take it from me honey." Ymir started. "Acting like people want you to act is a crock of shit! Don't censor yourself."

"Talking polite doesn't make her someone else." Nick argued. "It's how you act that makes you who you are, for example, Sasha acts like Sasha. Krista acts like Krista, and Ymir... acts like a bitch." He spat at her, defending Sasha as he did.

"Um, thank you very much." Sasha replied to Ymir. "I appreciate the advice."

"Really?" Ymir asked, unconvinced by her.

"Ah, sorry." She apologised. "I'm not really sure what to say."

"Leave her alone!" Krista almost yelled, shoving Ymir back. "If she wants to talk politely to people why do you care?" She asked Ymir. "Sasha is who she chooses to be. It's called reinventing yourself, whatever she says it's still her."

"Huh, well aren't we philosophical. I say however she tries to sound on the outside, the inside Sasha will always be a pain in the ass." Ymir stated.

"Knock it off." Krista told Ymir. "Would it kill you to show some compassion every now and again?"

"I think it would." Nick whispered into Sasha's ear, causing her to laugh.

"Hey! What're you laughing at?" Ymir asked Sasha, angry that she could have been laughing at her.

"Uh, nothing! Sorry!" Sasha quickly responded to Ymir.

(Present)

" _Really? Why is that coming back now?"_ Sasha thought to herself as she kept on running with the little girl along the dirt road and away from the Titan. " _Of all the stupid things for me to dwell on. Still, it's the only thing I can think about."_ She smiled to herself about those memories as she kept on running.

"Alright, listen." She said to the girl. "You're gonna be fine, just keep following the path were on. Run as far away as you can, there'll be someone willing to help, I promise. It may take you a little while to find them, but keep on. You'll bump into them eventually." She said to her, spinning around to face the Titan. "Now go! Get outta' here!"

"Don't give up hope!" Sasha yelled as she pulled the bow back, ready to fire an arrow at the Titan as the girl jumped a bit and started to run down the path they were following.

Sasha let the first arrow loose, only for it to sink into the flesh of the Titans neck, bot causing any damage at all. " _If I can take out the eyes, it should buy us enough time."_ She thought to herself as she quickly turned around to retreat a bit, climbing up the nearby hill, raising her to the level of the Titans head as she prepared another arrow, this time shaving the side of the Titans face as it flew past.

" _Damnit, only two left."_ She thought, preparing her third arrow to be shot at the Titan. " _Relax."_ She thought. " _It's nothing, just a big, slow moving, target!"_ She thought as she let the third arrow loose as it flew straight into the left eye of the Titan. " _Bullseye!"_

 _"Last arrow, if I miss, that'll be it, end of story, period."_ She thought as she aimed at the Titan. " _I'll be... she'll be."_ She thought about the girl as she tossed the bow aside, ignoring the galloping of a horse from the direction the girl ran in as she yelled out a war cry and stabbed the arrow directly into the second eye of the Titan, blinding it, but it also had a hold of her, wrapping its arms around her.

Sasha could've used the blood to slip out, but she didn't need to as the right arm of the Titan was sliced off, allowing her to easily break free of its hold on her as she saw Nick wearing hid ODM gear without his uniform as he swiftly and almost elegantly dispatched of the Titan, effectively saving Sasha and the girl from it.

"Hey Sasha." He greeted, putting both of his blades away, still having all of them available for future use.

Sasha was about to hug the life out of him for saving her and the girl down the path until she saw a person on the back of what was presumably his horse, without any limbs, and to make it worse. Sasha knew her.

"Is that Annie?!"

 **A/N - Thats another chapter down, now into season two of the anime for this story. Annie, however will not be accompanying Nick across Wall Rose territory, instead she will be "missing" for a few chapters at most, as Nick has peope to save and Titans to kill. Since the events at Dauper took place at 3pm at the very latest given the cloudy sky in the anime and a certain death that takes place near the sunset, I think it's plausible that the ground can be covered by Nick in the amount of time given. But enough teasers from me, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!!!**


	28. Clash of the Titans : Part Two

"Is that Annie?!" Sasha shrieked, shocked at the state her friend was in, tied to the back of Nick's horse with her hair stained red in some places with all of her limbs gone. " _Is that steam?!"_ Sasha thought. "Nick... what happened?" She asked him.

"The short version is that Annie is the Female Titan." He told her.

"What?" She asked. "No way."

"She is Sasha." He told her. "She and Eren both transformed in Stohess this morning. It's... not good."

"But why?" Sasha asked. "Why would she do this, to us, to anyone."

"Sasha." He grabbed her shoulders as he spoke to her. "You need to calm down." He told her. "Panicking won't help in this situation, so just take a deep breath, and calm down."

"Right." She said, taking a deep breath like he told her to. She was beginning to calm down completely until she remembered the girl that was with her only a few minutes ago. "The girl!" She yelled at him. "Did you see the little girl?!"

"Yeah I did." He responded. "She said there was someone fighting a Titan so I came as fast as I could." He explained.

Before Sasha could respond there was the sound of galloping horses from the treeline next to them, then the man in front spoke up. "Is tha' Sasha?"

A few minutes later when Nick and Sasha were riding along with the men who had also picked up the girl that Sasha had saved from the Titan riding with one of the other men, when the man who had identified themselves as Sasha's father spoke up. "We've been doin' what we can, givin' the horses to folks that need 'em." He said. "That little girl told us there was two peope back behind her on the road. Said the first helped, saved her in fact, then the second was a soldier, said he'd kill the Titan." He looked over at Nick when he said this before turning back to Sasha. "Nicely done." He complemented. "Im proud of ya."

"Thanks dad." She whispered to herself.

"As touching as this family reunion is." Nick spoke up. "We have bigger problems to deal with, mainly the Titans currently prancing about the inside of Wall Rose." He told them. "And the other problem is her." He said, gesturing to Annie.

"You wanna explain to me why that girl has no limbs and is steamin' like a potato?" Sasha's father asked him.

"Not really." He replied. "But all you need to know is that she's dangerous, extremely dangerous." But before they could panic he explained the situation. "If she remains unconscious then she's harmless." He tried to ease their worries.

"That brings me to you Sasha." Nick then turned to face her.

"Me?" Sasha asked.

"What dya' need with her?" Her father asked him.

"I need you to take Annie to Commander Erwin or Section Commander Hange." He told her. "They most likely will be travelling to Ehrmich from Stohess in the next few hours. I know I have no right to ask this of you, but I can't keep her alive and fight the Titans inside Wall Rose at the same time, so please just-"

"I'll do it!" Sasha proclaimed. "If she really is the Female Titan then we need to keep her safe, right?" She asked.

"Yeah, something like that." He replied. "But seriously, thank you Sasha, I'll find a way to repay you for this."

"You don't have to do that." She insisted. "But I sure would love to have some meat inside of me at some point in the future."

"Of course." Nick scoffed. "I can deal with that. Now lets swap horses."

(Unspecified amount of time later)

The sun was beginning to set in the distance with the bright orange sunlight being the dead giveaway as Mike Zacharius launched himself up the arm of a Titan and running along it until he reached the nape and sliced it open, landing on the rooftop of a nearby building in a small settlement that had been destroyed by the Titans, breathing heavily and sweating slightly from the effort he had been putting in to kill the Titan horde.

" _Only four of them left."_ Mike thought as he looked around at the Titans around him, one thirteen metre and two four metres, one with a giant head it seemed. " _No, don't risk it. I've bought us more than enough time."_ He thought, sheathing his right blade so that he could whistle for his horse, the whistle echoing off into the distance.

" _Still though, that abnormal worries me."_ He turned his head to look at the last Titan which was seventeen metres tall with fur on its body. " _Look at the bastard, easily over seventeen metres tall, massive. And this is the first time I've seen one of them covered in what, fur?"_ He asked himself. " _Its just lumbering around, why doesn't it just try to rush me? Definitely an abnormal but-"_

His thoughts were cut off at the sound of his horse calling out to him in the distance as it tried to speed towards him. " _Ah, there you are, looks like I won't need to hold out till' sundown after all."_

As the horse tried to sprint past the abnormal, it reached down and grabbed the horse, lifting it up off the ground.

"What the?" He spoke out loud. "It went for the horse." He was in disbelief now, he didn't know what to think. "Oh come on!" He said, drawing his second blade out ince again, ready to fight the abnormal.

The abnormal turned it's head, it's yellow eyes staring directly at Mike as it crushed the horse in it's hand, killing it instantly as it cocked it's arm backwards and threw the horse at Mike as hard as it could. Mike had almost no time to react as he barely moved out of the way of the horse, this came at a cost however as he tumbled down the roof and onto the ground below where the four metre with the large head caught him, biting down on Mike's leg, causing him to shout out in pain.

" **Wait!** " A voice commanded, from where Mike had no idea, but the abnormal had crouched down in front of him and the four metre, staring directly at him, only for the Titan to bite down on his leg again, only managing to cut the surface if the skin, thankfully not breaking anything, which earned another scream in pain from Mike.

" **You must not have heard me.** " Mike heard the abnormal speak, shocking him to his core. " **I told you to wait.** " It said, grabbing the Titan's head and squeezing it in it's hand, causing it's eye to pop out and Mike to fall to the floor, free from it's mouth.

" **Ahh.** " The abnormal spoke, flexing the hand it used to squash the head of the Titan. " **May I ask what you call that strange weapon of yours?** " It asked with a smile on it's face. Seeing that Mike hadn't answered it continued on. " **That thing attached to your waist that allows you to fly.** " It probed on with.

Mike on the other hand had never heard of a Titan talking before, so he was too terrified to talk back, all he could to was look at it and stutter in his head.

" **Huh?** " The Titan reached across it's face to scratch behind his ear. " **I'm fairly certain we speak the same language, perhaps you're too frightened to formulate a response?** " It guessed correctly. " **I also noticed you use swords, fascinating, must mean you know we reside in the nape.** " It deduced. " **Ah well, suppose I'll just take it with me.** "

The abnormal began to reach over towards Mike who had hunched over in fear of being crushed by the Titan, only for a hook to embed itself into the wrist of the Titan as it was reaching over. " **What?** " It asked, only to see a blur fly by and the hand on its arm drop to the floor, cleanly cut off, before it could look over it was blinded by a flash of metal, causing it to roar out in pain.

"Section Commander, get up!" Nick tried to pull Mike to his feet after blinding the Beast Titan, the strongest of Marley's Titans rather easily.

"What?" Mike weakly asked, looking out of his hands to see that he wasn't being eaten by a Titan.

"Get up!" Nick shouted at him.

" **Kill them!** " The beast Titan ordered, the three Titans beginning to move closer to Nick and Mike.

"GET UP!" Nick screamed at Mike, snapping him out of his shock just in time as they both managed to grapple up to the roof of the building before they were grabbed by the Titans that were seemingly under the control of the Beast Titan.

Before Mike could get a word out Nick had already flown at the thirteen metre, avoiding the outstretched hand and circling around to the nape and slicing it off, before flying straight at the nape of the normal looking four metre as it bashed itself into the wall of the building, killing it instantly and getting back up to the roof.

"We're leaving." Nick told him. "Get on the horse." He said as he mounted the horse at the other side of the building, riding away from the Beast Titan and the other four metre that was left there.

"What the hell was that?" Mike asked as they rode further away from the settlement.

"That was the Beast Titan, he's like Eren, if you hadn't guessed that already, except he's the enemy." Nick told him.

"And you know this how?" Mike questioned him.

"I'll answer all of your questions later, first we need to get out of his range." Nick replied to him.

"His range?"

Nick didn't have time to reply as a huge chunk of rock went sailing over their heads, landing a few metres in front of them, causing the horse to rear with them barely hanging on.

"He threw your horse at you, he clearly has the ability to throw rocks with extreme accuracy." Nick pointed out, not revealing how he knew of the Beast Titans deadly pitching ability or hardening ability. "Once we reach the treeline to the south we should be fine. Its only about two hundred metres away from us. That's only about five more throws." Nick tried to joke in their current dire situation.

"If we get outta here, you're telling me everything." Mike stated.

"That's a very big if." Nick stated as the whistling of another chunk of rocks could be heard from behind them. "Shit! Hold on tight!" Nick yelled as he yanked on the reigns of the horse.

(Ragako Village)

"Connie, slow down!" Reiner yelled. "Get a hold of yourself! There could be Titans around every corner! Wait for us!"

Connie however paid no attention to Reiner's yelling as he rushed through his home village to find his house, even though most, if not all the buildings were damaged, indicating that Titans had indeed been through the village of Ragako.

"Hello!" Connie called out as he reached the centre of the village. "Can anybody hear me!"

He was unable to take the eerie silence for an answer as he yelled out in frustration. "Somebody, please! It's Connie! I CAME HOME!"

He still got no answer however, giving him even less hope than before, but he could still hope for his family's safety. "Dad, Mom, Sunny, and Martin…please just… be okay." he begged.

He wasn't paying any attention to where he was going however, which caused him to pull on the reigns of his horse to prevent him from crashing into his house, which had a Titan lying upside down inside of it, just waiting there for something to remove it since it's limbs were too small to support it's own body.

"Connie get back!" Reiner tried to pull him away when him and Bertholdt had caught up to him.

"It's... my house." He whispered, his eyes not leaving the Titan. "I..."

"Connie..." Reiner sighed sadly.

Gelgar quickly caught up, getting between them and the Titan, sword raised. "Cadets, fall back!"

Lynne, the other Scout with them also spoke up. "I'll scout out the area!" She assured them.

Gelgar and Lynne both circled around the Titan to get a better look at what they were dealing with. "What the hell? This is new. It can't move." Gelgar stated as he saw the Titan's limbs.

"Not with those legs." Lynne agreed with him.

"But then... I don't understand." Gelgar replied, quite confused. "How did it get here?" He asked, but then shook it off for a moment. "Everyone dismount and look for survivors." He ordered. "We need to give our horses a rest."

In the time it took for Lynne and Gelgar to scout out the rest of the village had to be the worst few minutes in Connie's life, his entire village was destroyed by the time he had arrived, and what's worse is that there was a Titan on top of his house. He vaguely remembered Gelgar handing him an unlit torch since dusk was approaching, but that was about it.

"Connie!" Reiner called out as he approached with Bertholdt in tow. "Have you found any survivors?" He asked.

"No." He muttered just loud enough for them to hear. "No... no, it's... it's in ruins." Connie said, tears escaping his eyes. "My hometown has been completely wiped out."

"Hey, something's wrong." Gelgar stated as he and Lynne regrouped with them. "You find any bodies?" He asked.

"No." Reiner responded, both him and Connie shaking their heads.

"How's that even possible?" Gelgar responded. "Titans ransacked this place and there's not a spec of blood-"

"Then they must have fled!" Lynne interrupted him. "The villagers I mean, they all escaped, uh, your family too." She tried to convince them, as well as herself.

"You think so?" Connie asked, his demeanour changing entirely. "You think they're alive?" Hope filling his voice.

"Um, yeah sure, it's the only logical explanation for why there'd be no trace of well, carnage." She said, trying her best to stay positive.

" _I don't know if I agree with that."_ Gelgar thought to himself. " _Suppose the entire village was evacuated, how do you explain the devastation? Why would Titan's rip apart empty houses? And that doesn't bother me half as much as the stables being full. Without horses, the villagers odds of survival are slim to none."_ He thought.

"Anyone not have a torch?" Gelgar asked after a moment. "Okay, lets move!" He said after nobody responded. "Our mission is to evaluate the breach."

" **Welcome home**..." Connie swore he heard the Titan say from behind him, not to mention it reminded him of his mither at the time as well, but this was just crazy.

"Did... did I?" He questioned, only to have Reiner come talk to him.

"Snap out of it!" He said as he grabbed onto his shoulder. "We're falling behind Gelgar and the others."

"Did you hear that?" Connie asked him. "You had to! I swear that Titan-"

"It was only your imagination." Reiner told him. "I didn't hear a damn thing." He assured him. "Focus on the mission!"

"But I, it sounded, i don't know how but it sounded... like my mom-" Connie tried to protest against Reiner, but to no avail.

"Damnit Connie do you even know how serious our situation is right now?!" Reiner yelled at him. "If we don't see this through people will die in the hundreds of thousands." He told him. "Just cause your family escaped doesn't mean they're out of the woods yet! Now you wanna be a soldier or don't you!" Reiner yelled, riding out of the village on his horse as he left Connie there.

"Yeah, stay focused." Connie assured himself, snapping the reigns of his horse to spur it onward. "I'm a soldier!" He told himself as he followed Reiner after Gelgar, Lynne and Bertholdt to assess the breach.

(Western Team : Seven hours after Titan spotting) 

"The closer we get to the wall, the less populated the area will be." Henning told Ymir and Krista as he rode alongside Nanaba.

"That's good." Nanaba stated. "It didn't take us very long." She commented. "Alright, let's head to the south." She told them.

"What's the point?" Ymir asked her. "Last I heard there aren't any villages to the south of here." She pointed out.

"We've raised the alarm for everyone in the region." Nanaba replied. "Now we pinpoint the breach, the idea is to ride along the wall from the west until we do." She told her.

"Seriously? You know Krista and me don't have our battle gear right?" She asked sarcastically. "What are we supposed to do about Titans? The south will be crawling with them." She stated. "If we can't defend ourselves you might as well serve us up on a platter. Why not let the two of us withdraw from the front." She suggested.

"Ymir!" Krista spoke up, almost sounding disgusted by the mere suggestion of leaving their fellow soldiers to do the work by themselves.

"Negative, when we find where they're coming in I'll need someone to relay it to HQ." Nanaba replied. "I know you're scared, but like it or not that's part of the job."

"Ymir." Krista spoke up after a few seconds of silence as they rode towards the south. "Look, I'm aware if what I've gotten myself into." She told the taller girl. "Hey, come on, no one made me join the Scouts and you know it. I chose it for myself, I know it's a different story in your case."

"What? You think I signed up for all this crap because of you!" Ymir practically yelled at Krista in reply to her statement.

"What other reason do you have for being here?" Krista asked her. "You tried talking me into joining the Military Police till' you were blue in the face." She responded. "You bowed out so I'd be eligible!" She exclaimed. "Don't try to deny it, I wasn't good enough to make top ten on my own, ask anybody. When it comes to skill you're the better soldier by far, not to mention Nick. I have no idea how you did it. Why?" She asked. "I know why Nick did it, but why did you do that for me?" She asked again.

Ymir refused to respond to her to Krista decided to try her luck with her. "Nick did it because he likes me, or I think so anyway." She said. "But you... is it my family?" She guessed. "That's it, isn't it?"

"Sure." Ymir responded. "Why not? I'm sure your family and Nick's would love to mingle together when you get together." Seeing Krista cringe at the mention of her family she spoke up again. "Relax, don't worry about it so much." She told her. "Take my word for it sweetie, I'm only looking out for number one."

"Really?" Krista asked, getting Ymir to look over at her as if she had hurt her with her words. "That's such a relief." Krista smiled as Ymir looked on in horror at what she just said.

" _I better not have set them up!"_ She thought. " _I'll eat alive him if he touches her!"_

(Nicholas Meier and Mike Zacharius : Ten hours after Titan sighting)

"If you don't slow down you're gonna crash!" Mike told Nick as the horse they both rode galloped through Wall Rose territory in the night, barely able to see ten feet in front of him.

"I know what I'm doing." Nick responded, not happy with Mike's complaints on how he was directing the horse. "We should be getting there soon anyway."

"You never explained where we're going!" Mike stated in his ear. "And you haven't answered any questions yet, I'm running out of patience. Maybe a court martial will loosen your jaw."

"Please." Nick replied. "You'll get your answers when we arrive." He assured. "And for the record, any court martial against me would be thrown out before it got to the court room."

"Still haven't told me where we're going." Mike sighed.

"There's an abandoned castle just to the south of here. Utgard Castle." He explained. "We need shelter from any Titans that are still roaming about in the area."

"I agree with the shelter part, but Titan's aren't active at night." Mike pointed out.

Nick sighed to himself, a few hours ago he had been talking extensively to Frieda while he and Mike had just gotten away from the beast Titan while Mike was still shaken up about what had just happened between him and the Beast Titan.

(15 minutes after escaping the Beast Titan)

" _What the fuck was that Frieda?"_ Nick asked her, not believing that the Beast Titan was successfully able to control the Titan's with his own commands.

"I... I don't know." She admitted. "The Beast Titan has never had that ability." She said. "Only the Founding Titan has that ability, but even then it can't be used without the user needing royal blood."

" _And on top of that anyone that holds the power of the Founding Titan that possesses Royal blood falls under the influence of the will of Karl Fritz."_ He finished off for her.

"Sorry." She apologised.

" _It wasn't your fault Frieda."_ Nick tried to assure her. " _You thought you were doing the right thing_ _at the time, so please, don't apologise for that."_ He insisted.

"Right, sorry love." She replied.

" _Haven't heard that in a while."_ He teased.

"Oh shut up." She replied. "So... where does that leave us, y'know, the whole controlling Titans thing."

" _Well, for starters, the process for creating a mindless Titan is instantaneous, right?"_ He asked her.

"It was for me." She confirmed.

" _So they must gave a way to get a mass infection or something like that, otherwise there would be havoc after one Titan was created."_ He summarised. " _So there must be a way to either slow down the transformation process. Or the wall was breached at an exact point where the sunlight cannot hit any of the Colossal Titans in the wall."_

Actually." Frieda interrupted his thoughts. "The Founding Titan was able to create mindless Titans with their spinal fluid back when the Titans were used in wars." She told him. "Maybe it's an ability of the Founding Titan."

" _But unless the Beast Titan ate Eren in Stohess right after I left, escaped the Scouts there and decided to waste his time creating Titan's within the wall instead of using the Colossal Titans to wipe us all out. Not to mention the will of Karl Fritz, it wouldn't work, even if he had Royal blood."_ Nick sighed, they weren't getting anywhere with these theories at the moment.

"What if he does have Royal Blood?" Frieda asked.

" _You mean the Beast Titan, that Zeke guy?"_ Nick asked. " _Even if he did, that wouldn't explain how he was able to control those Titans."_

Maybe it's not an ability of the Founding Titan, maybe it's a Royal blood ability." Froeda suggested. "What if he used his own spinal fluid to create the Titans, he could have poisoned the water supply of a village and then kept it waiting until he gave the order to transform!" She told him, getting quite worked up in the process.

" _That would explain the sudden appearance of a horde of Titans."_ He admitted. " _But not the control he had over them."_

"I think it could be related to the fact they could have been created with his own spinal fluid." Frieda told him. "That whole creation listens to master thing... like in that book I read to you when you were nine." She explained.

" _That does make sense."_ Nick admitted. " _Actually now that I think about it, it's quite incredible you came up with that Frieda."_ He told her. " _Even I hadn't thought of it yet."_ He admitted.

"It was nothing." Frieda stated. "I was just trying to help, it could be wrong after all." She admitted, trying to be humble about it.

" _It could be, but even then it's a damn good theory Frieda, you're a lot smarter than you give yourself credit for. You're one of the smartest people I've ever met."_ He told her.

"Thank you." She quietly replied, if her heart was still beating then it would be racing at his compliments. She always had a soft spot for him when they were kids, and his crush on her was quite obvious for anyone to see at the time, but when she died and his powers awakened from inside him, he became cold to a lot of people to protect himself from any more emotional hurt on his part, going through ut once was bad enough, it took her months to get him to be more open and to break the walls he built to protect himself.

" _So to avoid any further confusion, we both think the Beast Titan is part of the Royal Family?"_ Nick asked her.

"Yes, there was parts of the family that stayed behind on the mainland when Karl Fritz relocated the majority of Eldians to Paradis Island." Frieda confirmed. "So it's entirely possible he is a descendant of Ymir Fritz."

" _Explaining this to anyone is gonna be a complete headache."_ He conceded. " _But I think with what's happening here Rod will try something soon to save his own skin. We'll need every advantage we can get."_

My father would most likely try to convince Historia to devour Eren." Frieda admitted. "He will probably use that whole saving the world mumbo jumbo to get inside her head. If he hurts her!"

" _He won't Frieda."_ Nick assured her. " _Once the secret is out, the Scouts will put her under their protection. Not to mention I'll be there as well as Levi and Mikasa."_

And what about Kenny and the Anti-Personnel Control Squad. They were created to oppose the Scouts." Frieda interjected. "Kenny is not someone to go up against, you of all people should know that."

" _He may be strong, but he won't be able to stop me and Levi at the same time. Even with their specialised ODM gear they have to reload after two shots, and even then they can't attack enemies approaching from behind."_ Nick explained. " _The only problem is that they use buckshot instead of the standard metal balls muskets use. Those type of rounds could blast open a human skull like a watermelon."_

That's not encouraging in the slightest." Frieda deadpanned. "Try not to become a watermelon when you fight against Kenny and his squad."

" _I won't, you know that."_ He responded.

"Oh! Before I forget, there's something you should know." She said, seeing him nod she continued. "When Titans were created from the Founding Titan's spinal fluid, they didn't require sunlight to function."

" _You're fucking with me, right?"_ He asked.

"Unfortunately not, I'd suggest not running about when it's dark out in the open." She suggested.

" _Right, hopefully there won't be any Titans when we get to Utgard Castle."_ He prayed.

"It's your fault if you jinx yourself." Frieda told him. "But seriously, be careful, I want to see my little sister become Queen."

" _One step at a time Frieda, one step at a time."_

(Present)

"I wouldn't be so sure about that Section Commander." Nick replied. "You saw the Beast Titan control those Titans, who's to say they aren't active at night as well."

"As soon as we arrive. I want answers!" Mike basically commanded him.

"Look." Nick pointed at the faint outline of two towers that were connected by a stone bridge. "I'll explain everything when we get inside."

"About damn time." Mike muttered.

(Southern Team : Eleven hours after Titan sighting)

Gelgar was at the front of the group of soldiers as they rode their horses in the pitch black night, their torches only allowing them to see about twenty feet infront of them at most, without any moonlight a Titan could pounce on them without any time to react, with any luck it would miss and allow Gelgar and Lynne time to kill it before it attacked again. Or at least that was what Gelgar was thinking about given his heavy breathing and the nervous sweat pouring down his forehead.

" _Please."_ He thought. " _Just get it over with."_ He pleaded. " _I can't take this. Any second now they'll lunge at us from the shadows. Damnit. The closer we get to the entry point, the more it feels like we're marching into the jaws of death."_ He grimaced at the thought of any nearby Titans. " _This is driving me out of my mind!"_ He thought as he gripped his torch tightly as they continued forward in silence.

His eyes widened as he saw another torch appear in the darkness about thirty feet infront of them. Fearing the worst as they hadn't spottet a breach in Wall Rose yet the other team had to have seen something.

"...So you followed the wall here too I take it?" Gelgar broke the very uncomfortable silence between him and Nanaba.

"That's right." Nanaba confirmed. "I assume you found the breach then?" She asked since they hadn't spotted anything either.

"Huh?" Gelgar replied with, the only thing he was able to say since they hadn't found the breach.

"We didn't see any irregularities along the western route." Nanaba explained to him. "Surely you must have seen something in the east!" Her tone was getting more desperate now.

"No... the wall's perfectly intact." He replied, causing the ensuing silence between the two groups to be even more uncomfortable for them than it already was.

"Well, maybe we just overlooked it." Lynne tried to suggest, not very convincingly though.

"Not likely." Henning interjected. "A hole big enough for Titans to get through, no way." He told them.

"I suggest we have another pass then." Gelgar suggested.

"That goes without saying." Nanaba agreed. "Trouble is the horses are on the verge of collapse and so are we. If only we had more light."

Right as she said that her prayers were answered, the clouds moving away with allowed the moonlight to shine though onto the ground which illuminated the area for them to see properly.

"What's that?" Gelgar asked after a moment, directing Nanaba's attention to the ruins of what looked like an old castle with two stone towers connected by a bridge still standing. "An old castle." He guessed.

"Not an ideal place to sleep." Gelgar commented once they arrived at the castle. "But I guess we can make due with it for one night."

"Stop!" Nanaba commanded. "Look." She said, pointing to a horse that was drinking from the trough in the stable. "Somebody's here."

"Could it be the Section Commander?" Lynne asked, getting her hopes up for a moment.

"No, his horse was a different colour." Henning stated.

"Everyone be on guard." Nanaba told them. "We'll clear the tower, you rookies tie the horses up." She said, gettting off her horse and drawing her blades, the other Officers following her example. "Gelgar, you're up." She whispered.

Gelgar hated this part of the job, having to investigate this creepy old castle, never mind having to take point to flush out any enemies that could be lurking in the shadows. "It's pitch back up here!" He hissed down at Nanaba after he reached the first door of the tower.

"Use your torch then!" She whispered back at him, encouraging him to open the door.

"Here goes nothing." Gelgar said to himself, opening the door as slowly as possible, which turned out to be a mistake as it creaked open every inch of the way.

Once he was inside the room, armed with a torch in his left hand and a blade in his right, he stepped forward only to be grabbed by someone and tossed over their shoulder, dropping both the blade and the torch. "Shit!" He yelled out as he hit the floor, alerting Nanaba and Lynne who were running up the stairs as Henning kept an eye out for any more unsavoury individuals.

"Gelgar!" She yelled, bursting through the door, only to have the cold hard steel of a blade pressed against her throat, unable to see the assailant due to the lack of light.

"Nanaba?" The presumed assailant asked, his voice sounding familiar to the woman, but she couldn't place it just yet.

"Nanaba!" Lynne yelled, as she attacked with her swords at the assailant, having her legs sweeped from beneath her as she swung at him.

"Stop!" A voice yelled from the upper levels as footsteps could be heard racing down, a torch in hand revealed Mike Zacharius to Nanaba, Gelgar and Lynne. "Stand down you four." He told them.

"Mike, it's so good to see you!" Nanaba exclaimed. "I thought you would've retreated after killing those Titans."

"It's good to see you three as well." He responded. "Although I ran into some... complications along the way." He glared at Nick when he said this.

"Sorry about that." Nick said as he helped Lynne to her feet, almost throwing her into the air as he was surprised at how light she was.

"Dont sweat it." She replied. "That's some skill you have there." She commented. "I didn't have a chance to react at all."

"Been trained since I was six." He replied. "My mom thought it was best to be able to defend myself, being from Mitras and all. Lot of people might try something."

"We can chat later." Mike said, cutting them off. "For now get everyone inside, we have canned food upstairs. Meier said it was herring, but not a word of anything to the cadets, understand." He firmly told them.

"Sir!" Nanaba and Lynne responded.

"What's herring?" Gelgar asked, still on the floor.

(Somewhere between Stohess and Ehrmich: Wall Rose Territory)

"Hey, four eyes." Levi spoke up as he, Pastor Nick, Hange, Eren, Mikasa and Armin rode on a wagon from Stohess to Ehrmich. "Since when are you a geologist?" He asked, seeing that Hange was staring at a rock. "Or are rocks just that fascinating? Looks like you're about to drool." He commented.

"This? It's not a rock." Hange replied. "Not an ordinary one anyway. It's a hardened piece of skin left behind by the Female Titan." She revealed.

"It didn't vanish?" Armin asked, shocked by this revelation.

"No. This random fragment broke off when Annie was cut out of her Titan form." She told him. "It didn't evaporate, didn't simply go poof." She said. "So that got me thinking, and when I compared it to a sliver of the wall, it's texture and composition were, for all intents and purposes, virtually identical." She explained. "In lehmans terms, were hemmed in by a barricade of enormous Titans. If my hypothesis is correct, the surface was constructed using consolidated Titan skin." She told them, looking in Pastor Nick's direction as she finished.

"You're kidding me?" Mikasa asked. "That's what Armin was trying to say."

"Huh... so then-" Armin started but was cut off as Hange slapped her hand on his mouth, stopping him from speaking anymore.

"Easy! It's rude to steal someone else's thunder." She told him. "As it stands, we'd be hard pressed to find a rock big enough to plug Wall Rose. It'd have to be the right shape and size and we don't have specifics yet." She said, her hand still preventing Armin from speaking. "But on the other hand, where there's a will there's a way. Picture Eren utilising his hardening ability while in Titan form. All eyes turned to Eren now.

"I could... patch the hole!" He realised.

"The sealing should be composed of the same material. And the hardened bit shouldn't dissolve once you've transformed back, this might be less of a long shot than it sounds. Thoughts?" She asked them all.

"Well, anything worthwhile incurs a little risk." Armin commented. "If we can manage to shore up Wall Rose... Wall Maria starts to look fairly promising, vital as it is, the outpost infrastructure slows us down to a crawl. The time and resources needed to transport materials are immense." He explained. "But, if supply wagons don't have to be accommodated, we can make our way to Shiganshina much faster. And what if we decided to carry out our plan in the dead of night!"

"Night." Hange repeated, liking where he was going with this.

"Yes." Armin confirmed. "When the Titans are effectively motionless!"

"That's not bad." Hange admitted. "In fact it's genius, particularly if the group is small enough to slip by undetected. The straights we're in are as dire as they come. But there might just be the teeniest bit of slack." She explained, looking at the piece of crystal left behind by Annie.

"Yeah, just bear in mind though... the whole plan hinges on whether or not Eren can seal the hole again." He stated.

"It's uh, probably unfair of me to even ask... but do you think you can?" Hange asked him.

Before Eren could answer, Levi spoke up after the silence between them all. "What he thinks really isn't the issue." He told them. "You either will or you won't. That's the reality. Our comrades are breaking their backs, but without you... its nothing. Failure isn't an option."

"Sir!" Eren responded. "I know, I'm prepared to do whatever it takes!" He firmly told him. "That's a promise." He whispered. "My fathers cellar, that's where the answers are." He said looking at the key given to him by his father, when he didn't know. "If there's a grain if truth in what he told me... everything depends on us making it there."

"Here's Ehrmich." Hange stated as they came closer and closer to the Southern District of Wall Sina.

Once they entered the district the only thing they could see and hear was the refugees that had abandoned their homes in Wall Rose in return for safety against the threat of the Titans that had appeared so suddenly inside of Wall Rose. Pastor Nick froze at the sight of all the tired and ragged refugees that were filing through the streets if the District, getting a kick in the back from Captain Levi in the process.

"No one said stop." He told him. "A rolling stone gathers no moss."

"This... This is..." Pastor Nick was at a loss for words at what he was currently seeing.

"Maybe you expected to see something quaint." Levi spoke up from behind him. "This is what happens when the walls give." He explained as the Pastor looked on to see a child crying out for their parents.

Pastor Nick moved towards the crowd, only for Levi to stop him. "No, take it in holy man. These are the faces of human beings who've lost everything they've ever had. Human beings you and your kind abandoned incidentally." Levi taunted him. "Hard to look at I'd imagine, but if the church had it's way this'd be all of us... Titans would pour in and make a feast of what's left, shovelling man, woman and child down their putrescent gullets. All humanity digested as one."

Meanwhile Hange was currently talking to Eren while Levi was entertaining their guest with the sight of the refugees.

"Once we leave Ehrmich, we'll be in Titan territory proper." Hange told Eren.

"Eren, you well enough to ride a horse yet?" Hange's assistant Moblit asked.

"Yeah, should be able to manage one without much of a hassle." He replied.

"Saddle up then soldier, there's a mount waiting for you on the left lift." Moblit instructed him.

"Right." Eren replied, moving towards the lift with Moblit until Hange caught sight of Levi arriving with Pastor Nick.

"Section Commander we're pressed for time." Moblit tried to speed up his superior.

"Oh, thanks Moblit, give me a sec." Hange said, making her way over to Pastor Nick and Levi.

"So, seem to like it by any chance?" She hissed at him. "Oh god damnit!" Hange shouted after the Pastor refused to speak. "Make up your mind! This isn't some spiritual test, lives are on the line!"

"Alas I have no choice." The Pastor spoke. "Neither myself nor the others who believe are at liberty to divulge the truth."

"Fat lot of help you are!" Hange yelled at him in response. "Thanks for keeping us company! It's been fun!" She turned away at that, seemingly one with him.

"I'd offer my help if I could, but a duty as great as this one is beyond me." Pastor Nick spoke up, getting Hange to stop for a moment. "The Order of the Walls abides by the sacred will our faith commands us to obey." He explained.

"Who's sacred will?" Hange asked. "You mean like God or something?"

"I can't answer that." Nick revealed, not surprising Hange or Levi in the slightest. "But what I can do is provide you with a name, an individual the sacred will in it's divine wisdom instructed us to monitor."

"Monitor?" Hange repeated, not sure whether to be intrigued or not at what the Pastor was sharing.

"It's a person you know." He revealed. "Someone who enlisted with the Scout Regiment as of this year." He said, getting gasps from Eren and Armin alike, with them all wondering who it could be.

"A child by the name of Krista Lenz."

 **A/N - Well then, seems like Nick has sone explaining to do with Mike and the senior officers in the tower while the rest are kept in the dark, enjoying their canned herring while they rest. As for him saving Mike, I liked Mike, he definitely deserved a better death, maybe later on? Who knows, but Sasha is about to appear in the next chapter after being sent away with Annie to find Commander Erwin or Hange. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!!!**


	29. Clash of the Titans : Part Three

**A/N- Sorry for the month long wait or so again, but this chapter did give me some struggles with what to include and what not. But anyway, hope you enjoy!**

Nick was going to kill Sasha, or that's what she thought at least, the reason being that she panicked, big time, while heading north towards Ehrmich District Annie woke up and the limbs that were slowly regenerating began to sprout out faster than Sasha could have imagined. This caught her off guard and when Annie threw herself off of the horse and bit her arm when it had almost grown back and successfully transformed into the Female Titan, Sasha bolted it to Ehrmich as fast as possible, afraid of looking behind her at the possibility of Annie chasing her.

Despite the fact she was terrified with her own life now in the balance, she had managed to find Commander Erwin and inform him of the situation, he seemed to take a keen interest in what Nick was doing, like whether or not he was helping the Scouts or not. Either way he handed her a document and sent her to find Section Commander Hange along with his praise for her bravery on the battlefield.

"Important message!" Sasha exclaimed as she opened the door she was told that Section Commander Hange would be behind. "I'm with the 104th cadet corps, oh and my name is Sasha Blouse!"

"No way!" She heard Eren say while facing away from her, not having heard Sasha enter at all.

"Who?" Hange asked, not hearing Sasha enter either it seemed.

"Sorry, this is for you Section Commander." Sasha tried to talk to Hange but to no avail, she was still being ignored.

"You must find her with all haste." Pastor Nick urged. "She is the key. She may know things that we understand but poorly. And with that we come to the end of what I'm free to share. The rest I leave in your capable hands." Pastor Nick finished.

"But if... if she's in the 104th cadet corps, she's at the front lines by now!" Hange realised.

"Then let's go!" Eren exclaimed. "Come on! There's no time to lose!" He started to run off, only to bash into Sasha, knocking her down to the ground.

"Watch where you're going!" Hange yelled after Sasha had been floored by Eren running into her.

"Sasha?" Eren asked, not having realised when she arrived.

"Just where did you come from all of a sudden?" Mikasa wondered the same thing as Eren.

"Ahh!" Sasha exclaimed, reaching for the document that she had dropped when Eren had barged into her. "I was sent to give a message to Commander Erwin, who then entrusted me to deliver this to you, Section Commader!" Sasha finished with a dramatic bow in front of Hange.

"Oh, uh... okay then. Excellent work." Hange complimented, taking the document and replacing it with a steamed potato, which Sasha looked dreamily at before taking a bite, savouring the taste.

"So, who was Nick talking about?" Hange asked the others.

"She was the smallest one in our class." Eren replied, Mikasa helping him put on his ODM gear.

"Golden hair, blue eyes, in fact she's uh... kinda cute." Armin added in.

"The girl who's always hanging around Ymir." Mikasa said.

"Excuse me?" Hange asked, seemingly knowing the name.

A few minutes later the scouts were gathered round a table while Hange discussed with them what they were going to do once they left the district.

"So thats the plan." She said. "Are we clear?" She asked.

"Yes, clear!" Came the chorused reply of the others in the room.

"Right, we have to go. Now!" Eren exclaimed, making his way towards the door.

"Calm down Eren." Levi told him. "I need you all to listen. We're going out seperate ways, it's how it has to be. Erwin has his reasons for throwing this ragtag squad together, but right now it's all riding on you." He explained. "Armin, you and Hange are the brain trust, use your combined knowledge to cook up some kind of solution."

"Right, yes Sir!" Armin responded as Levi turned to Mikasa.

"Mikasa... I don't think I'll ever get why you're so attached to the guy, but, put your skills to good use." He ordered. "Protect Eren at all costs!"

"Sir, I intend to!" She responded.

"And you." He turned to face Eren. "Don't screw this up!" Eren stiffened, knowing exactly what the Captain was referring to. "Check your emotions Eren. Learn the meaning of the word restraint. If you let yourself succumb to blind rage all hope is lost. We can't afford another mistake!"

"Sir!" Eren nodded at the Captain, determined to keep his rage in check.

"I mean it Eren." Levi said to him. "As much as you may want to, Meier is not to be harmed when found. Erwin doesn't want the Scouting Legion disbanded because their secret weapon turned some snot nosed brat from the Capital into his chew toy."

"Yes Sir!" Eren responded again, but he couldn't promise not to hit him when they found him.

(Ruins of Utgard Castle)

The experience of camping out inside the ruins of Utgard Castle was definitely not something for any of the eleven members situated inside the ruins to brag about. Apart from the fact that they had food and a fire going inside the castle to keep them all somewhat warm inside of the Castle during the cold night. In fact, the officers had barely spoken a word since the unarmed cadets had been told they could safely enter the castle.

In fact, they were given specific orders from Mike Zacharius to not talk to the cadets about anything if possible at all, they had asked why but were given the cold shoulder from both Mike and Nick, but dropped their arguments when they saw the anger that was residing in Mike's eyes. Usually he kept his cool, so for him to get angry was a rare occurence. Although to them it seemed cruel to not talk to the cadets, it was Nick who had suggested it to Mike in the first place, since two of them were the biggest enemies humanity had ever had, it would serve them well as to not tip their habd before they could play it.

This is what Nick had explained to Mike among other things in the hour or so that they had been there before the others had arrived. He was quite confused at first, but after having it explained in greater detail, Mike was absolutely livid, surprisingly not at Nick, but at the Royal Government for hiding these secrets and threatening and killing off people that refused to keep their dirty little secrets.

Once they were all situated with something to eat and drink from the cans that were found in the tower. Mike had suggested that Lynne take a look at Nick's broken nose to make sure there would be no permanent damage, saying "We need to keep the eye candy sweet."

So now that Nick was having his hastily set nose properly looked at by someone who could actually see what they were doing, he was still feeling slightly bercous at the fact there were three people in the same room as them that could kill all the humans, and what's worse is that they would probably kidnap Krista in the process, leaving humanity with some of their best soldiers dead at the hands of the enemy and their only viable source of knowledge on the darkest secrets of the Royal Government dead, and if that were to happen the Royal Assembly would likely call for the disbandment of the Scouts and the execution of Eren, leaving them all to die of a Titan invasion eventually.

He was brought out of his thoughts at the possible impending doom as Lynne forecefully moved the bone of his nose back into place, with it being slightly out of place from what he had done to it earlier.

"It looks better now." Lynne commented as she looked over his nose. "I'll just have to put a bandage on it to keep it in place, it should be fine in a few weeks."

"Thanks Lynne." He thanked.

"It's not a bother, but... I was wondering why Mike looks so angry." She said. "At first I had thought you called him creepy for his habit of sniffing people but he wouldn't be so hung up on that."

"He's not angry at me." Nick explained. "Rather at something I told him, and to be honest, I don't blame him."

"It couldn't have been that bad." She said, trying to remain as optimistic as possible about their current situation. "I thought that maybe you told him you found it creepy how he sniffs people when he greets them." She said, a smile on her face as she continued to bandage his nose.

"While I do find it creepy that he does that, especially to the kids that join, that's not what I said to him." He responded. "And for the record he never actually sniffed me when we first met."

"Actually... Mike told us he snuck into your room one night because he didn't get a chance to sniff you." Lynne admitted, with Nick getting a look of disgust on his face at the thought of Mike smelling him while he slept.

"Did he say what I smelled like?" Nick asked, genuinly curious as to what Mike thought of him.

"Um... well." She scratched her cheek out of embarrassment. "He said you reeked of sex." She said. "His words not mine." She added in.

"I'm... not sure how to respond to that." He replied. "I'm not sure why I smell of sex either, guess it's just his nose or something." He tried to wave it off as it was nothing.

"I think you know exactly why you reek of sex." Frieda spoke up, getting his face to slightly redden to where it was only noticeable by Lynne who decided not to comment on the current situation.

" _It's not my fault you're all over me during the night."_ He responded to her teasing with, trying to put the blame on her instead.

"I don't recall you ever putting in any effort to stop me at any point over the last three years." She replied which shut him up until he decided to respond.

" _Anyone who decides to resist you woukd be an idiot."_ He responded, now getting her embarrassed for a moment.

"You flatter me." She replied. "But I can recall several times in the past month alone where you had your way with me, and a proper lady such as myself has no way to defend herself from the advances of a big and strong soldier such as yourself." She feigned hurt when in fact she was enjoying teasing him as much as she enjoyed his company.

" _Well maybe if you weren't so hot I wouldn't have to have my way with you."_ He flirted back.

"It's quite strange how you would rather flirt with a girl that's inside if your head when there are four other girls in the room with you." She said.

" _Well first off, I'm pretty sure Ymir is into Historia so that's a no go. I was also under the impression that Historia would be off limits since she's your half sister."_ He replied. " _And I'm pretty sure that Lynne and Nanaba would get pissed off at me if I tried to flirt with them in this situation."_

"Well, I wouldn't specifically be mad at you if you were to get with Historia." She admitted. "But that would only be if she wasn't just a replacement for me and she reciprocated any feelings that you projected towards her."

" _Thanks for the compliments."_ He deadpanned. " _But she'd have to ditch the martyr complex and the Krista personality first."_

Sadly yes, she's not Historia at the moment." Frieda sadly admitted. "But hopefully she will go back to being herself instead of using a false identity to hide herself."

" _We can only hope at this point."_ He solemly thought, mainly because there was no reason for Krista to start using her real name again, at least not without a little coercion on Nick's part.

"There." Lynne said as she pulled her hands away from his face. "It should heal in about two to three weeks. You might feel some discomfort for a few days." She added in. "But I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Did any of you guys notice the sign when we came in. It said "Ruins of Utgard Castle", I didn't know there was a historical sight around here." Nanaba commented.

"Hey, take a look at what I just stumbled on." Gelgar said as he entered the room from one of the storage rooms in the castle, holding a bottle of Marleyan whiskey that Nick had tried to hid earlier, evidently not well enough.

"You're kidding?" Lynne asked, almost in disbelief that Gelgar had managed to find alcohol in a place like this. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Uh huh." He nodded and swallowed something. "Can't really read the label though." He commented, squinting at it a bit.

"You're not gonna drink it now." Lynne scolded, looking at him disapprovingly.

"Don't be smart." He caught himself with. "I'm gonna save it for-" He started only to have the bottle yanked out of his hands by Nick as he was shoved backwards into the storage room, letting out a yelp in pain as he landed on his ass right before the door slammed shut behind them.

Lynne immediately stood up and started to make her way to the room, with Nanaba about to follow her until Mike stopped them.

"Stop." He ordered the two. "Let them work out their differences." He smirked. "They've both had a rough day anyway."

"No offense Section Commander." Reiner started. "But is it really a good idea to let Gelgar get his ass beat while we're in this situation?" He asked.

"I agree with Reiner." Krista spoke up. "How is this going to help our current situation? I mean, what's going to happen between them in there?" She asked, not knowing the real reason Nick had forced Gelgar into the room, but given what Mike had been told earlier, he had a pretty good idea why.

Bertholdt on the other hand was getting rather suspicious as he sat quietly and kept to himself. Given that Gelgar couldn't read the label meant it was most likely in a foreign language, but it wasn't too far fetched to assume Nick was taught his native country's language given the fact that he was a noble, and most likely all the nobles on Paradis were not Eldians. Bertholdt could only hope that it wasn't written in Marleyan, because neither him nor Reiner could understand it, and it would mean bad news if he did manage to read it and was able to read where it was made at.

(Three minutes ago)

"What the hell was that for?" Gelgar asked, somehow keeping his cool despite the situation. "Don't tell me it's something to do with the drink?" He asked as he got to his feet.

"It has everything to do with the drink!" He hissed back at him, keeping his voice low enough to not be heard from the outside. "This whiskey was manufactured earlier this year in a brewery in Liberio." He stated while Gelgar gained a look of confusion on his face.

"You can read that?" He asked. "And where is Liberio, I've never heard of that place within the walls." He commented, clearly showing Nick that intelligence wasn't his strong suit.

"Are you really stupid enough to believe a brewery on this shitty island would print a label that only a select few could read?" He asked in disbelief, he had noticed the slip of the tongue but hoped that Gelgar had not.

"Island?" He asked. "What Island are you talking about?" He scratched his head in confusion. "Wait, what did you mean with that?" He asked, now getting concerned.

"Would you keep your fucking voice down." Nick whisper shouted at him. "I'd rather not have anyone else be able to hear this. Especially the three idiots that think I don't know their secret."

"What the hell are you talking about!" Gelgar practically demanded, but still keeping his voice down. "What secrets could they be hiding? Wait... you don't mean what I think you mean?"

"If you're referring to the real reason they were put on standby. Then yes, that's exactly what I mean." He replied.

Gelgar to his own credit didn't go straight for his weapons like Nick thought he would, instead he kept his cool like the situation demanded and spoke up. "What do we do?" He asked.

"Act natural." Nick responded. "Mike will take us all upstairs in a few minutes anyway. I'll explain there."

"Anything else?" Gelgar asked skeptically, not sure if there was more to the story.

"I really shouldn't have to say this, but stop looking so fucking nervous Gelgar." He said to him. "We're all fucked if they get wind of this now, and I don't just mean us in here are fucked, I mean the rest of the people inside the walls will be fucked, living their lives in an ignorant cycle until the walls come down again." With that Nick spun around and walked out of the room with the glass bottle of whiskey in hand and proceeded to make his way up the stairs with it. "I'll take first watch." He waved off the concern of the others with.

"What's his problem?" Ymir asked. "Don't tell me he's going to drink all that up there."

"Ymir." Krista elbowed her. "He's probably just tired, he wouldn't put our safety at risk by doing something like that."

"You mean he wouldn't put "your" safety in danger." Connie corrected her, earning a glare from Ymir that he saw but ignored. "It's quite obvious that he's more concerned about you than anyone else in this room. Isn't that why he always helped you back in the cadets?"

"He only did that because he's nice like that." Krista tried to wave it off. "Besides I'm sure he does care about all of you as well, at least in some sort of capacity."

Ymir snorted at that, like she would believe that he cared about her, it was more like he cared about Krista because of her sister that he knew, well at least that was what she hoped, there was no way she would lose out to some rich brat on her quest for the attention of Krista.

"Enough gossiping." Mike cut in, slightly annoyed at the comments being made towards their fellow soldier. "I want you kids to try and get some rest. We leave four hours shy of daybreak." He said, before adding something. "The rest of us will keep watch for the night. The Titan's shouldn't be active at night, but you never know." He said, thinking back to how the Beast Titan was able to control the Titan's by giving them orders.

"Excuse me." Krista interrupted, deciding that she should speak up about her worries. "What if it turns out Wall Rose that isn't actually compromised? Where do, uh... where else could they be coming from?"

While Mike was aware that they had not found a breach on their first pass of the wall, he had been told why the walls were not likely to have been breached. The other four though, hadn't been informed yet so they had been asking themselves that question for some time since they had arrived at the abandoned castle.

"Then it's our job to find out." Mike replied after a long pause as he started to walk up the stairs. "Gelgar, Nanaba, Lynne and Henning, we need to discuss a time scale for watch with cadet Meier." He gestured for them to follow him up the stairs.

"I'm just saying, the situation isn't good sure." Krista spoke up to her friends when all the Officers had disappeared up the stairs. "But is it as bad as we think? You never know, right? That's all."

"You're right." Reiner pointed out. "We haven't seen that many Titans out there. You'd think with the wall being busted open there would be more."

"Yeah." Bertholdt agreed quietly. "The only ones we saw were from the initial sighting, and well..." He broke off, glancing at Connie as he did.

"Connie, what about your village?" Ymir asked, noticing the way Bertholdt looked at him.

"Totally destroyed." He replied. "It was crushed to tinder and bits of rubble." He revealed to Ymir and Krista who weren't with their team.

"I uh... I'm sorry." Ymir responded, he may be an idiot, but he didn't deserve that, nobody did.

"Nobody got devoured though." He said, getting their attention once again. "Looked like they all got out. So there's a silver lining at least."

"I thought that you said it was destroyed." Ymir spoke up, having gained her interest that nobody had been eaten despite the village being destroyed.

"Well the houses and stuff were, but the people themselves must have all escaped." He replied, he could take hope from the fact that there was no blood at his village. "I mean that had to have. But the thing is... we didn't see any blood anywhere. Not so much as one drop. That's the only possible explanation."

But there was one thing he couldn't get off his mind, so he decided to share with his friends. "Still though, something I can't get outta my head. There was a Titan on top of our house... just lying there... staring at me. It couldn't move on its own, thank God. But I just... I have no idea why... but it reminded me of my mom. Am I crazy?"

"Connie." Reiner spoke to him. "What did I tell you? It was your imagina-"

"Are you for real?!"

All eyes in the room went to Ymir, as she started cackling like a witch. Like Connie had just said the funniest thing in the world. "You actually think your mom might be a Titan? Oh honey, as itty-bitty as you are, please."

The other four in the room went silent, looking at her in a mixture of shock and horror, it didn't help that the superiors had all gone upstairs as well and would probably not hear them.

"We all knew you were as dumb as a bag of rocks, but this, woah man. This takes it to a whole other level!" She exclaimed, still laughing her ass off.

"Ha ha, yeah have your fun." Connie grumbled, rubbing his palm on his forehead. "Guess I was kinda asking for it."

"Don't stop there, if mother darling's a Titan, then it's only logical to assume that dear old daddy is too. Basic biology." Ymir continued on with. "How else would-"

"Okay I get it!" Connie finally snapped at her. "Just shut up and go to sleep!"

While the Cadets of the 104th were conversating down below whixh ended with Ymir mocking Connie. At the top of the tower the other Scouts present were talking about something a lot different, the main thing was that the wall wasn't breached and that humanity wasn't dying out like they were led to believe, the only other crucial piece of information was that the Colossal and Armoured Titans were directly below them.

"Mike, you seriously don't expect us to believe all this bullshit?" Nanaba asked, who was clearly having none of it while the others also didn't seem to believe him.

"Whether or not you believe me is irrelevant Nanaba." Nick spoke up. "What I have told you is the truth, and I suggest you take this seriously or are we going to have a problem here?" He dangerously asked her.

"You can't just save a superior officer from a talking Titan and then expect people to believe everything you say." She hissed back at him. "Why hasn't this information been made public yet?"

"Because that would mean the downfall of society within the walls." He explained. "There would be a civil war if this information was leaked to the public, not to mention that all the Noble families care about is their wealth inside of Wall Sina. When you get right down to it, it's all down to greed."

"So they kept this information hidden from the public because they want to keep their power." Henning observed, keeping his anger at a minimum.

"That's about right, but on the other hand. Most of them keep it secret to keep their lives."

"What do you mean by that?" Lynne asked, getting involved for the first time.

"When the walls were first constructed over a hundred years ago, the majority of the people here came from a specific bloodline, one that the Royal Family could manipulate, and by that I mean altering their memories." He told them. "The minority that could not be manipulated into forgetting were offered wealth in exchange for their silence on the matter, with the threat of releasing the information the only bargaining chip they had. Those bloodlines would make up the majority of the aristocracy today." He explained to them.

"You said the majority?" Gelgar asked, to which Nick nodded back at him. "Which families didn't become aristocrats."

"That would be the Asian clan and the Ackerman clan. Both families refused to keep quiet to the rest of the population about the truth, so the King had them persecuted for a century." He explained. "But when the new King was crowned twenty one tears ago, he decided that the persecution should stop."

"But King Fritz has had the throne for far longer than that." Nanaba brought up.

"So he has." Nick said, internally berating himself for the slip of the tongue. "I must have misspoke then. My bad."

"Constantly lying to them isn't going to get them to trust you any more than the little trust they have in you already." Frieda pointed out, only to be ignored by him, which was a rare occurrence in itself.

"I have a question about the walls." Lynne spoke up. "You said that the walls are made of Titans right, so I was curious as to how many Titans are in the walls?"

"If you're looking for an accurate number then I doubt anyone could provide that, even the one who made the walls probably couldn't tell you." He told them. "But I can tell you that they are lined up shoulder to shoulder with their feet buried in the ground, that's why the walls are fifty metres instead of sixty. I'm sure someone could do the maths if they really wanted."

"Could you stop being so cryptic?" Nanaba asked, getting annoyed at not being given a straight answer. "It's getting really annoying considering you keep avoiding giving out any straight answers."

"If I were to tell you everything then that would mean that I hold no power anymore." He retorted. "And I'm not stupid enough to give you straight answers either, what I say is what you will recieve. No exceptions."

"Not to interupt your little lovers quarrel." Gelgar spoke up, earning him a glare from Nanaba. "But what should we do about the uh... infestation we have under our feet?" He asked them cautiously.

"There's nothing to be done at the moment." Nick replied. "They will try to maintain their cover as long as they think they have it. But we should still be cautious around them, the Beast Titan will likely return with more Titans soon, when that happens I would suggest not risking your life for them."

"Why don't we just kill them now?" Henning asked. "Wouldn't it be easier to kill them now and be done with it. With the power gone they couldn't break the walls anymore."

"The power doesn't disappear when the holder dies." Nick replied. "The power will transfer to someone else, whether they want it or not. And it would be preferable if we could contain them, it would be a lot better if we could take their powers and put them to use on our side."

"Then how would you suggest we take their power?" Nanaba asked. "We don't even know where the power came from, or how to transfer it."

"You don't have to worry about that now, but if they are about to be eaten by a Titan... let it happen." He replied.

"This isn't a game!" Nanaba hissed, storming up to him and grabbing a fistful of his slightly bloody shirt. "Start giving proper answers or I swear to Maria that I will march straight down there and kill them myself." She threatened, glaring straight into his eyes, doing her best not to recoil at the dead stare he was giving her.

"Tell them." Frieda urged him. "You aren't doing yourself any favours by keeping it to yourself. And don't forget Historia is down there with them, she could get hurt if they were to transform." She reminded him.

While there was absolutely no doubt in his mind about how he felt about Frieda, there were some times that he hated that she was right most of the time, and this was one of those times.

"I'll give you a straight answer on the condition that nobody hears about this except for Erwin, Hange and Levi." He eventually replied to Nanaba. "Anyone else finds out and It'll spell disaster for us."

"Deal." Mike quickly answered, shooting his squad a quick glare to get them to shut up and deal with it.

"Very well. If a Titan were to ingest the spinal fluid of a Titan shifter, like Eren for example, they would then transform into a human with the abilities of the person they ate." He told them. "That is all I will say on the matter. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to get some sleep." He said, walking down the stairs and towards where the others were resting.

"I can see why he didn't want to tell us." Henning pointed out. "Nobody would want to hear that, especially in our situation."

"Thats... that's... I don't know what to say." Lynne trailed off.

"To think we've risked our lives killing Titans, only to now find out that they could be human like us." Nanaba said.

"I doubt it's as simple as that." Mike spoke up. "He said that there are less than ten Titan powers in existence earlier today. We're probably putting them out of their own misery."

"Is that why they eat humans?" Gelgar asked. "So that they can turn into one?" He clarified.

"He wouldn't say when I asked why they eat people. Only thing he said was that it was their natural instinct." Mike replied. "But still, it's horrifying to find out the truth about the Titans from someone who's barely out of his teens. Makes you think about how ignorant the rest of us really are."

"And that's not even counting what he hasn't told us." Gelgar added in. "He said something about a place called Liberio. I've never heard of it but he said the whiskey was made there. The way he said it made it sound like it was made outside the walls."

"At this point that's more than likely the case." Mike pointed out. "The first day he joined the Scouts he said that the enemy would have been kids when Wall Maria was breached, said that no child plans to commit genocide, that they were told to by somebody. Erwin was considering the idea that there were people living outside the walls but had no way to confirm it."

"So... what now?" Lynne asked.

"There's one more thing we need to discuss." Mike said to them. "The small blonde, Krista I believe her name was."

"What about her?" Nanaba asked.

"Before he said a word to me he demandes that she be withdrawn from the frontlines if we happened upon her by chance." He told them. "I asked why but he wouldn't say, only that she was important, far more important than the rest of us."

"The other girl, Ymir I think, she wanted to withdraw with Krista, but got scolded for suggesting that." Henning replied. "Takes more than guts to say something like that in our situation."

"He doesn't think it's that though." Mike sighed as he prepared to tell them. "He thinks that she has a martyr complex, and that's why she's so caring towards others, so that she'll be remembered as a good person."

"You mean that she joined the Scouts so she could become a martyr?" Gelgar asked, shocked that she would do something llike that.

"His words were that she was neglected as a child and her mother constantly wished that she wasn't born." Mike explained, gaining looks of horror from all four. "But given the circumstances we were in, I agreed to his request on the condition that we be in a losing fight against Titans."

"She won't want to leave though, if he's right about her martyr complex, she'll be the first to sacrifice herself." Henning pointed out.

"We both agreed that someone would need to carry her away. Knock her out if necessary." Mike replied with.

"Who will take her then?" Nanaba asked. "It's not like we can draw straws or anything."

"We'll work that out if it comes down to it." Mike replied. "But in all likelihood, we all know who's the most valuable one of us that is currently wearing ODM gear."

For the past two hours, Nick had been out like a candlelight after he had came back down fron the tower and taken off his ODM gear to get some sleep. After he had fallen asleep, they hadn't dared to make too much noise, because they had all heard the stories of Thomas being thrown out if the top bunk after waking him up by mistake while he still slept next to him.

Ymir however, had taken to scavenging for leftover food that hadn't been opened or eaten yet, but all she had come across so far was empty cans and some items of clothing, that was until she heard the door open from behind her as Reiner stepped in.

"Ymir. What're you doing?" He asked her, keeping his voice low as to not wake the others.

"Huh, seriously, what're you doing?" She asked in return. "Here to ravage me? Don't take this the wrong way, but I didn't think you were all that into girls. In fact, I know a hot guy in the other room who doesn't seem to take a great interest in the female population." She mocked.

Reiner however, wasn't one to let Ymir's petty insults get to him. "Really? Well since we're on the subject. I didn't think you were all that into guys." He jested back at her.

"Huh, if you must know, I'm scavenging for leftovers like a street urchin." She replied with. "I prefer not to meet my maker on an empty stomach."

"Look, the whole thing earlier with Connie. Were you teasing him to get his mind off things?" He asked her. "It'd be great if you could keep that up. The less he dwells on his family right now the better."

"What're you talking about?" She asked, seemingly not hearing what he said. "Huh, this might be good." She mused as she found a can that wasn't opened yet, all the others had been opened with the label torn off. "Herring's not my favourite but whatever."

"Herring huh?" Reiner asked as he walked over to her. "Can I see?" He requested.

"Help yourself." She replied, handing the can over to him so she could keep looking for other cans.

"I can't believe there's canned food here." He replied, but noticed that he couldn't read the writing on the label. "What the?" He asked, shocked. "Wait, what is this? I can't read a word of it. How do you know it says herring?" He asked, causing her to freeze up. "This uh, label, it's in another language." He pointed out. "Ymir, how can you-"

"EVERYONE WAKE UP!" Lynne yelled, waking up everyone who was asleep and saving Ymir from something she really didn't want to explain. "GET TO THE TOWER IMMEDIATELY!"

Once they had all assembled at the top of the tower, they all noticed the dozen or so Titans that were making their way towards the tower. Among them was the Beast Titan who was lumbering around, being ignored by the other Titans in the area, with their focus being solely on the tower. If he hadn't been given prior knowledge, Nick would have thought that the Beast Titan was an abnormal, but he had his mother to thank for that, she had thought it best to tell him about the reality of the false world they lived in after the first time Frieda had snapped at him and called him a sinner when he was only eleven.

"I couldn't see them in the dark." Lynne mumbled out. "But with the moonlight-"

"Don't mope. Focus." Nick interrupted her. "How many are there?" He asked.

"I count at least fifteen." Mike stated. "But I can smell the rest, too many. All in the forest, hopefully they can't move like these ones can."

"How can they move?" Gelgar asked in shock. "This shouldn't be happening. The sun went down hours ago."

"What's going on?" Krista asked no one in particular, as she too was shocked that the Titans were able to move in total darkness.

"Hey guys." Connie called out. "The hell is that?" He asked, pointing towards the Beast Titan. "It's gotta be a Titan. But have you ever seen one that big? Look at it! It's more like some kind of beast!"

"How do we-" Connie stopped himself as he looked over to Reiner and Berthold, who were both staring at the abnormal, but whether it was in terror or admiration he couldn't tell, something Ymir also noticed. "Wait, is it? It's heading for the wall!" He yelled out as it changed bearing and headed directly towards the wall.

Just then, a fifteen metre rammed itself into the tower, knocking everybody off balance for a moment as a few smaller Titans mover forwards towards the closed door of the tower and began trying to bash the door down to get inside the tower.

"He- hey!" Gelgar yelled as he looked down to the entrance. "Back off! Don't be coming up here!" He meekly got out. "Aint you got nothing better to do?" He asked, not really expecting an answer from them. "Bother someone else, I should be drinking right now damnit! You're standing between me and a tankard of ale!" He yelled, drawing both of his swords as he did. ""I've earned the right to get trashed!"

Nick was the first to rush forward, drawing his blades and hopping up onto the battlements of the tower, he was about to drop until Mike stopped him.

"Wait." He said, pulling him back and turning to Lynne. "Lynne, you and Nick help the others secure the inside of the tower." They were about to protest but he held hos hand up. "There's no point in us fighting out there if they get inside anyway. We'll keep them out as best we can, you two kill any Titans that get inside."

"Yes Sir." Lynne responded while Nick had to agree with him, it seemed that he wasn't a Section Commander for nothing.

"The rest of you with me." He commanded, jumping onto the battlements. "Defend the tower with everything you have! You all know what's at stake!" He yelled as he prepared to jump off, with Nanaba, Gelgar and Henning all with him. "Attack!" He yelled as he jumped off, the others following suit. "Give your hearts for humanity!"

 **A/N- sorry if this chapter doesn't have any action, but there will be plenty in the next chapter, which I hope will be done faster than this one. But Nick isn't telling them everything, which makes sense since he would lose any negotiation power if he freely gave everything up, which would ruin his plan. But until next time!**


	30. Clash of the Titans : Part Four

**A/N- Sorry for the wait again, but I was busy working on another story, called Big Brother Knows Best, which you should totally check out if you haven't btw. The main character is Mikasa's older brother who joined the Scouts eight years before her. But enough about my shameless plug ins, enjoy the chapter!**

Mike, Nanaba, Gelgar and Henning all jumped off the tower together, while Nick, Lynne and the others all stood on the top and watched them do their work.

Gelgar was the first to go to work, flying towards a fifteen metre that was trying to bash the tower down with it's shoulder. The Titan spotted him and reached out, assuming that they prey would put up no resistance.

"You think it's gonna be that easy big guy?!" Gelgar taunted as he approached the Titan. "Then I got news for ya!" He yelled as he sliced through all five of the Titan's fingers.

The distraction Gelgar caused allowed Nanaba to fly across the nape of said Titan, cutting across the nape with extreme precision. The Titan fell to the foor dead, and trapped some smaller Titan's underneath it.

"Hot damn!" He cockily said. "You little ones should watch where you're going! Ha, dumbasses."

Nanaba on the other hand, wasn't amused at all by his attitude in their current situation. "I don't think you're one to talk. There's no call to be so reckless." She scolded him. "Did you have to waste your blades?!" She asked him, getting angry at his carefree attitude.

"That's just how I do things." He replied to her. "You better chalk that one up as an assist." He added in for good measure.

"Aren't you the hero?" She joked. "I'll think about it."

One of the smaller Titan's was trying to break free of the larger one that had it pinned down, only to have Mike step on the back of it's head and slice the nape.

"Damnit, not fast enough." He muttered as he noticed that the door was already broken down, meaning that some Titans had made it inside. "The doors been kicked down." He told Gelgar and Nanaba as he passed them.

"Titan's have made it into the castle." Mike told the ones still on top of the tower. "Make sure they don't get to the top, improvise some kind of barrier." He then turned to Nick and Lynne. "You two have blades, use them only as a last resort, just try and slow them down if possible." He told them before adressing the group once again. "The rest of us will stop any more from getting in to the best of our ability. There are quite a few, more in the forest, this might be it for us, but we'll fight to our last breath. Our heart and souls to the cause. Now go!"

"Right!" They all responded in unison.

"I'll go see how far they've gotten in!" Reiner announced as he grabbed a torch and began running down the stairs. "You find something to board up the entrance!" He yelled back up at them. "Whatever isn't nailed down."

"Reiner wait!" Krista yelled down at him, concerned for his safety.

"What the hell!" Connie exclaimed as he ran down the stairs as well.

"Hang on! We're coming!" Bertholdt yelled as he moved infront of everyone else. "Wait up!"

"Idiot." Nick muttered as he then ran infront of Bertholdt, trying to stop Reiner from doing something stupid that could endanger all of their lives.

"Are you kidding me?" Connie asked out loud. "Why's he always gotta be the first one to step up? Give us a break." He complained.

"I know." Bertholdt replied. "It's a habit of his."

"That habit of his might get us all killed!" Nick shot back at him. "Why the fuck does he have to play hero at a time like this?"

Reiner opened the door, only to see that the door down below was still barricaded shut. " _Are they in the tower?"_ Reiner asked himself as he continued down the steps. " _The door's still barred."_ He noted. " _Not that that'll keep them out for long."_

Walking closer to the door he slowly unlatched the barricade, not sure what to expect on the other side. Once the wooden latch was gone, he slowly opened the door and put his torch forward, only to come face to face with a Titan who had managed to crawl it's way up the spiral staircase from the base of the tower.

Just as the Titan growled at him, he was pulled back from the door, watching as Nick slammed it shut and placed the barricade back down, also placing himself there to hold the door.

"Don't just stand there Reiner." Nick spoke to him, snapping him out of the trance he was in. "Help me!"

Reiner did as he requested, placing his back against the door as the Titan slammed itself against the door, trying to break it down.

"They're in the tower!" Reiner yelled up to the others that were trying to find something to barricade it with. "Get down here and help us!"

Right as he said that, an arm of the Titan broke through the door next to Nick's head and tried to slam itself against him, but Nick was able to stop it by using his left hand to block the arm and hold it in place.

"You once said that sometimes we never have a choice when we became soldiers." Nick said to Reiner. "I never actually thought I'd have to fight a Titan with my hands, you think I'd win?"

"I'd think you were crazy!" Reiner yelled at him. "You have blades! Use them!"

"Sorry Reiner." Nick apologised. "But this isn't a last resort situation." He told him. "Let's find out, shall we?" He asked, grabbing the Titan's arm with his other hand and pulling it through the door, it's head managing to creep through as well as Nick continued to pull, with Reiner falling on his ass as he struggled to get away from the Titan.

"Reiner! Nick!" Berthold called out, coming down the stairs with a pitchfork in his hands and driving it into the eyes of the Titan, causing it to roar in pain. With Reiner also getting up and helping Bertholt with the pitchfork, Nick using their distraction to release the arms of the Titan and helping them push it out the door as well.

"Talk to me man." Bertholdt questioned him. "Are you good?" He asked.

"Yes." Reiner responded as he turned to face Bertholdt. "Listen to me, we're gonna make it home. This is not how we die."

"Yeah, right." He replied. "I know."

"You two can kiss each other later." Nick told them. "Keep pushing it back."

"Guys! Heads up! Incoming!" Ymir announced to them below, with her, Krista, Connie and Lynne all surrounding an old cannon that they had found and moved to the top of the stairs.

Before Reiner could speak to them, Nick started yelling. "There better not be any ammo for that!" He yelled at them. "If you shoot a cannonball at me, not even she could convince me to not cut you all into tiny pieces!"

"Yeah right, if only!" Ymir yelled back down to him. "It was pure luck that we found this! Get out of the way!" She yelled, with all four of them helping to push the cannon down the stairs, where it started to get faster and faster, with all three males down below quickly removing themselves from harms way before it crashed into the Titan, burying it in rubble.

"May miracles never cease. Huzzah." Ymir sarcastically spoke up once the dust cleared.

"Yeah, it's not getting up from that." Reiner confirmed. "Good thing it was a little one."

"Are one of you two gonna cut the nape?" Connie asked Lynne and Nick. "I'd feel reassured if I knew it definitely wasn't getting back up."

"There's no point in that Connie." Nick quickly replied. "Our blades would be put to better use on a larger Titan rather than one that's pinned to the ground."

"Then I think it would be best if we head back upstairs for now." Krista told them all, turning and starting to make her way up the stairs. We have no way of knowing if that's the only one that got in..." She trailed off as she noticed another Titan coming through the broken door, looking right at Connie. "Connie!" She screamed.

Connie was caught off guard by the Titan, and would have had his head bitten if Reiner didn't push him away, getting his arm bit in the process.

"Reiner no!" Krista yelled, trying to get back down the stairs, only to have her path blocked by Ymir.

Reiner felt the Titan bite deeper on his arm and felt a crack, which was probably the bone fracturing is his arm. Not to let his friends come to harm though, he bent down and lifted the Titan on his back, struggling with the weight but managing to slowly move with it entirely on his back.

"Holy- what are you doing?" Connie asked as Reiner walked past him with the Titan on his shoulders and going up the stairs. "Wait.. are you." Connie realised something. "Are you gonna jump out the window with it?!"

"We've got no other choice." Reiner retorted. "There's no angle for either of them to kill this thing." He reffered to Lynne and Nick.

"No wait!" Connie ran up to him, stabbing the knife he had into the Titan's jaw. "Just gimme a second, I think I can slice it's jaw open!" He said, continuing to cut until he finished cutting. "There!" He yelled, the jaw loosening and allowing Reiner to free himself.

The Titan wasn't gone yet though, and turned around to face them, with Ymir, Bertholdt and Reiner all contributing to throwing it out the window since they were the closest.

"Come on." Lynne urged them all. "We need to barricade the next door before anymore of them show up."

All of them proceeded to follow Lynne apart from Krista, who noticed that Nick was just staring at the wall, which prompted her to call out to him. "Nick." She tried to get his attention. "Nick." She tried again, not having any luck she grabbed his arm which snapped him out of it.

"What is it?" He asked her.

"You were just standing there staring at the wall." She told him. "Is everything all right?" She asked, the concern genuine this time around.

"Yeah, I was just... thinking." He told her.

"Hey Nick." She spoke up once again. "You could've helped Reiner just then." She pointed out to him. "But instead you just watched, why?"

"Not everyone is the person that everyone else sees them as Krista." He replied. "You of all people should know that... Historia." He said, leaving her behind as he walked up the stairs, with Krista quickly following behind him. Pondering what exactly he meant by that.

"What do we do if another one gets in?" Connie asked as he helped put some barriers of wood between the door and the floor, which would hopefully prevent the Titan's from breaking down the door. "Not like we'll find another cannon lying around, am I right?"

"Probably." Bertholdt responded. "Lightining won't strike twice." He said, looking over to Reiner who was having his arm looked at by Krista, while Nick and Lynne were conversing in the corner, rather secretly if Bertholdt had to guess, narrowing his eyes at the Scout and Cadet. " _What exactly are you two up to?"_

Krista on the other hand had opened the bottle of alcohol from Liberio, and splashed it onto the open would on Reiner's arm, causing him to wince in pain.

"Sorry!" Krista apologised. "I know it stings, plus the bone is most likely fractured." She guessed.

"Of course. It's about how my luck runs." He replied.

"We'll need a splint and a bandage, easy enough." Krista told him, standing up and ripping her skirt at thigh level, giving Reiner a good long look at her legs, while he was shocked that she had just done that right infront of him. "The cloth is filthy, I haven't been able to wash it in forever. I'm sorry."

"No sweat, it does the job." He cooly replied. " _Marry me."_ He thought to himself.

"So you gonna be alright or what?" Connie asked as Krista was finishing off tying the sling around his neck.

"Think so. Probably." He replied.

"Y'know Krista." Ymir said, holding onto her hand with the other. "I got a little scratched up myself." She said, trying to get Krista to pay attention to her for the moment.

"Ugh." Connie groaned at her. "So just spit on it or something." He suggested, earning him a hate filled glare from her. "Anyway, sorry about all that man." He apologised to Reiner. "Seems like you're always having to save my ass. You and everyone else. Even Annie put herself on the line for me once. I owe you, a lot."

"It's fine." Reiner waved it off, remembering how useless he used to be, that day when Marcel pushed him out of the way only to be eaten in place of him. "It's what soldiers do."

"I don't know." Connie replied. "I doubt I could ever be that courageous." He then turned to Bertholdt. "Has he always been like this? The self sacrificing type?"

"No, he's changed a bit." Bertholdt told him. "In the old days, Reiner was more of a warrior." Bertholdt looked Reiner in the eye.

"A warrior?" Reiner questioned, seeming genuinly confused by that statement, which didn't go unnoticed by Nick as he continued to converse with Lynne while listening in to their conversation. "I'm not quite sure I understand."

"Anyway." Ymir spoke up, walking up the stairs. "Let's scrounge around for stuff we can use." She suggested. "If I have to die, I'd rather not do it because we're being half assed." She looked out the window, seeing that most of the taller Titan's were dead now, leaving only a few smaller ones left. "Oh wow! Well alright then. Say what you will, the Scouts get shit done."

Silently Nick approached Reiner and grabbed his shoulder extremely hard and leaned inti his ear. "If I catch you staring like that again, I'll remove your eyes from your head. Understand?" He whispered.

"Yes." Reiner quickly answered, not wanting a broken shoulder as well.

Outside the castle, Nanaba quickly zoomed past a Titan's foot, slicing it's heel wich caused it to go to a knee, which in turn allowed Gelgar to kill it cleanly, and without wasting any supplies.

"That's mostly it for the big ones!" Gelgar announced.

"Good thing we have this tower." Nanaba commented.

"No kidding." He agreed with her. "Think we might just survive the night."

"I wouldn't be so sure Gelgar." Mike said as he joined them both. "The Titan's in the forest are mobilising, they're waiting for the perfect time to strike." He then turned to Henning. "Henning, you check on everyone else, we'll hold down the fort."

"Affirmative." Henning said, zipping up to the top of the tower.

"The hell's that noise?" Gelgar asked as they all heard a noise, sounding like something being thrown if Mike had to guess.

He was proved right as a large chunk of rock landed in the courtyard, killing all of the horses that were resting there.

"The horses..." Nanaba said, shocked that something like that had happened.

Mike, on the other hand, had seen it before, it was a while ago, but there was no mistaking that it was the Beast Titan that threw that rock. "Henning! Get down from there now!" Mike yelled up at him as he heard the noise again, but Henning couldn't react in time, his body being crushed and thrown into the air as a rock hit the top of the tower.

"Henning!" Nanaba cried out as she watched his lifeless body sail through the air.

"Oh shit!" Connie yelled as he was the first one up the stairs, with there now being a huge piece missing from the top of the tower where the rock hit, all while Mike carried Henning's body.

"He's dead." Mike said once they had all gathered. "Died instantly."

"This can't..." Krista started, only to stop as she watched Mike lay his body on the floor.

"He did this." Connie realised. "The one who made a beeline for the wall!" He yelled as he reached the edge of the tower. "Hairy son of a bitch is randomly-" He stopped after looking down at the ground. "Heads up guys! We've got twice as many as before!" He announced.

"You're kidding?" Gelgar asked in disbelief. "I hate when your nose is right Mike." He grumbled.

"It's like they're timing these attacks as some part of a larger strategy." Nanaba guessed, given the information Nick revealed earlier, it was the only option. "This isn't random at all, we're being toyed with." She said as the Beast Titan let out a roar for the other Titans to hear, causing the Titans to bash against the tower while the Beast Titan climbed down the other side of the wall.

"Mike." Nick said as he grabbed his arm. "You remember out deal? The one we made earlier?"

Mike took a quick glance at Krista and decided that the condition had been met. "I do remember the deal." He said, confusing the other recruits in the vicinity of them. "You clear the east side of the tower." He told him. "Nanaba, Gelgar, Lynne, you know the deal we made, we'll distract the Titan's on the north, west and south side while Meier clears the east. Let's get to it!"

"Wait." Nanaba stopped Nick. "Promise me that you're telling us the truth, that this deal we made isn't just for your own benefit."

Nick then grasped her hand and held it firmly. "I promise that this is for the sake of humanity." He promised her. "If you die, it won't be in vain."

She chuckled at that. "Just don't die Meier." She requested. "I'd hate to sacrifice myself for something that doesn't even work out in the end." She let him go as he jumped off the east side to get to work, while she joined Mike, Gelgar and Lynne in dealing with the Titans on the other three sides.

"What the hell is going on here?" Connie asked. "You don't think he's going to run, do you."

"He wouldn't to that." Krista insisted. "He's probably just been assigned that side because he can handle it."

"What makes you think he won't run Krista?" Ymir asked her. "It's human nature after all, to look out for yourself before others. It all boils down to how much he can take before the pressure gets to him."

"Enough." Reiner said. "We can't be worrying about that right now. All we can do is hope for the best."

Some time later and Nanaba had blood on her face that had just evaporated as a large Titan took a swing at her, which she managed to dodge by launching herself into the air. " _Damnit! I'm running out of gas._ " She thought, shooting herself at the large Titan and cleanly cut its nape, getting blood on the side of her face in the process.

"Come on, go down." She pleaded, only to see it fall on the shorter tower, causing it to crumble to the ground, which in turn gave them less places to launch their hooks into.

"The tower's not gonna hold." Gelgar said to her as he leaned against the tower.

"Hey, my ODM gears low on juice." She said to him. "Yours?" She asked.

"Fresh out, and I've worn my blades down to the nub." He told her, bringing the leftover of his sword up to his face. "Please tell me those aren't the only one's you've got left."

"Afraid so." She replied.

"How many dead Titan's did the six of us rack up?" He asked.

"Couldn't say. I was to preoccupied to keep count." She replied.

"You know well, I'm thinking I didn't do too bad." He thought out loud. "Oh man, what's a guy gotta do to get a drink around here?" He asked, blood pouring from a wound on his head.

"This isn't the time for-" She stopped as she saw his condition, he was barely able to stay awake, let alone fight.

"I'm sorry Nanaba." He apologised to her. "I must've bashed my head." His head now hung low. "I... I don't think I can... hang on."

Right as he was about to drop from the wall, Mike came from above and grabbed onto him. "I've got him!" He said. "Get up the wall, Lynne's already there!" He said as they both went up to the top of the wall.

"So this is it." Connie said as they got to the top of the wall. "We're all gonna die here are we?" He asked. "You know, I always thought I'd die to a Titan, I just never imagined that it'd be like this. Man, what a shitty way to go."

"The east side is clear!" Nick announced as he came back up the wall, covered in blotches of steaming blood from the dead Titan's.

"Alright then." Mike relented. "Do it."

Nick then turned to Krista, walked up to her and grabbed her by the arm, forcing her along. "Come on, we're leaving."

"What? No way!" She struggled against him as he kept his grip on her arm, doing his best not to hurt her. "I will not run away while everyone else dies in my place!" She yelled. "Who gave you the right to decide that?!"

"I did." He said to her. "Now stop struggling, this is for your own good Krista. Just accept this is how it has to be and you won't get hurt!"

"Hey let go of her man!" Connie yelled at him, with him, Ymir and Reiner all trying to get to them, only to have Mike, Nanaba and Lynne block their path.

"Stand down rookies. Thats an order." Mike sternly said to them. "This is what was agreed upon by all of us, do not interfere."

"You have no right to decide this for me!" Krista yelled at Nick, continuing to struggle against him. "What makes you think I even want to leave? This is what I signed up for!"

"I did not just kill every Titan on the east side of the tower just to have you kill yourself to fulfill some fantasy about you dying in a blaze of glory!" He was losing his temper with her now. "Sometimes you don't get to decide what happens to you in life Krista, you just have to accept it." He then forcibly picked her up and held her in place on his shoulder, with her hitting his back with her fists in frustration.

"Put me down!" She yelled, but realised that he wouldn't, so she decided that she would play a card that was a huge risk. "I know why you're doing this, risking everything to save me from this." She told him. "It's because you're in love with me, isn't it?" She asked, which made him stop moving altogether, slightly loosening his grip on her.

"That's it, isn't it?" She asked, mistaking his freezing up for conformation. "I don't blame you for feeling that way. In fact, I've always admired you, you always had a reason to keep going, you always gave me tips and advice back at the cadets so that I could improve. You even gave up a guaranteed top two spot just so I could join the MP, because you wanted me to be safe inside the walls. I'm sorry that it didn't turn out that way, but you can't keep protecting me like this, so please, put me down." She requested.

"You act like her so much Krista." He said as the others watched on, most in disbelief, but Ymir and Reiner in jealousy. "But I can't do that, because you're important, so much more than you realise. That's the reason we have to leave."

He stepped close to the ledge, only for a fifteen metre Titan to charge the tower, knocking everyone off balance including Nick, who stumbled and combining that with his loosened grip on Krista, accidentally dropped her over the edge of the tower, much to everyone else's horror, including Frieda's own shock.

As she fell there was a lone seven metre Titan that had wandered around the tower while they had been wasting time talking, it caught Krista in it's arms and stared at her, causing Krista to panic and flail about.

"Help me please!" She screamed. "Help me! Nick! Ymir! Anyone!" She screamed out for them as it raised her to it's mouth. "PLEASE HELP ME!"

"Don't just stand there like an idiot!" Frieda screamed at him through his head. "Get down there and help her!"

As the Titan slowly brought Krista closer and closer to it's gaping mouth, teeth ready to crunch down on her, she could smell the rancid breath of the Titan getting closer and closer to her. "Help me... please." She whimpered out, closing her eyes with tears forming in the corners of her eyes, she wanted to be remembered, but she didn't want to die like this.

She opened her eyes slowly at the sound of metal cutting into flesh, once she did, she saw Nick with his left foot on the bottom jaw, his right on the top jaw, keeping the mouth stuck open while his blades were inside the eye sockets of the Titan.

The Titan then released Krista from it's grasp to try and claw him away, but Nick jumped off right before it could which caused the Titan to hit itself in the face. Nick then slid under it's legs and used the momentum to jump off the ground, spinning in the air to shoot himself towards the Titan and cut two thirds of the way through it's nape, breaking his last two swords in the process.

He the ran up to Krista and lifted her up so her arms were around his neck and legs wrapped around his waist, all the noise made had alerted other Titan's to come around the tower, meaning there was no escape for them now, esecially considering he had used his last blades and a lot if his remaining gas to get down the tower so quickly. The only thing he could do was go back uo to the top and hope that one of the three idiots pulled their head out if their ass and transformed to save them, lest they be eaten as well and lose their powers.

The rest of them watched what happened from the top of the tower except for Gelgar and Lynne because he was unconscious and she was trying to stop the bleeding.

"Damnit." Mike muttered. "All of that was for nothing after all." He sighed. "The only reason he dropped her was because she started saying all that mushy crap to him."

"He looked more shocked by what she was saying than anything else." Nanaba pointed out. "If she hadn't said that, then maybe they'd be long gone by now." She started massaging her forehead. "It's pointless now, we have no way to fight back now."

"If only we had taken a spare set of supplies." Mike mused. "Maybe then he could've thinned the herd enough for us to have a chance of escaping." He said to her as he watched Nick slide between the legs of the Titan. "It's a shame really, fresh out of training and he's already got the potential to be a good as Levi, he just needed more experience, but he won't get that now."

Once Nick had reached the top of the tower he tried to get Krista off of him, only for her to tighten her hold on him, muttering into his shoulder as she buried her face in it.

"Please don't let go." She whispered. "Don't let go. Not again, please."

In return he rubbed her back in an attempt to calm her down, while the cadets and Scouts all watched on, most believing that they were all about to die.

"I know it's not the time for this." Connie whispered to Reiner. "But for what it's worth, I'm sorry." He apologised. "I know you liked her man, but you just can't compete with that."

"What're you getting at?" Ymir dangerously asked him, lowering her tone as she spoke.

"Well come on, it's obvious isn't it." Connie told her. "I don't think it's possible to misread the situation here. Guy saves girl, girl falls for guy, they both die together. Quite cliche if you ask me."

" _You're a fucking Idiot Connie."_ Ymir mentally scolded him. " _He's not in love with Krista, it's her dead sister he loved."_

"Damn it all." Ymir sighed. "Connie, where's that knife you had?" She asked as she approached him.

"Huh? Why?" He questioned, slightly confused now.

"Just give it here." She persisted.

"Fine, whatever." He sighed as he gave in, no point in arguing as he handed her the handle of the knife he used to save Reiner earlier.

"You're very sweet, thanks." She said, patting him on the head.

"What exactly are you going to do with that?" Mike asked her, taking note of what she was doing. "You're not trying to die in a blaze of glory, are you?"

"Not much." She responded before a smile grew on her face. "Just gonna give them a little hell."

"Okay then." Reiner responded nervously. "So, do you have a plan or-"

"If I do, we'll learn what it is together." She replied, walking to one side of the tower, before looking back at Krista, who was still shaking in fear.

"Krista." Ymir spoke up. "Listen to me, I realise you've probably forgotten... but, since were facing the end, try to think back." She pleaded. "Remember that oath that we made on the snowy mountain." Krista looked up from Nick's shoulder at that, remembering what had happened. "I have no business telling you how to live your life, it's not my place." She said, the sun starting to rise in the distance. "So when you break it down, this is really just more of a hope."

Krista had now gotten back down to the ground now, staring wide eyed at Ymir while Nick held her arm, preventing her from getting any closer.

"Krista... live a life you can be proud of." She then tapped the point of the knife, checking it's sharpness. "Never forget the promise we made." She said, starting to run towards the battlements of the tower.

"Ymir wait!" Krista pleaded.

"Stop her!" Mike ordered.

Nanaba was the closest and would've been able to get in the way of Ymir's path, only she didn't because Nick stepped across her, allowing Ymir a clear path to jump off the tower with the knife in hand.

"YMIR!" Krista screamed as she looked down to where she had jumped off the tower.

" _Krista, we are the same."_ Ymir thought as she fell through the air. " _I used to curse the day I was born just like you. The world despised me for having the gall to exist. Huh, I thought the only way to put things right was to give up my life."_ She cut her palm with the knife, engulfing her in a bright ball of light. " _But even then, all I wished for was to be given a second chance. A chance to finally live for myself!"_ She inwardly yelled, flesh and bones forming around her as the body of a small Titan formed around her.

"The Jaws Titan." Frieda whispered as she watched it all happen as well, but as Ymir bit into a Titan's nape and went to another one, she noticed something. "The jaw and claws are missing." She pointed out to Nick. "That's just a normal Titan body."

" _She knew she had the power, otherwise she would've have jumped off the edge."_ Nick replied to her. " _First time using it?"_ He guessed.

"Probably." She replied. "But even then... the claws should have at least naturally formed, it's like the power she has, doesn't want to work with her."

" _We can think about this later."_ He said to her. " _We need to survive for now."_

"Talk to me." Connie requested. "Somebody tell me it's all a dream." He pleaded.

"Ymir." Krista managed to get out.

"It was her that day." Reiner said, mortified after recognising her Titan form from that day.

"She's the one..." Berthold trailed off, equally as horrified as Reiner, watching on as Ymir dodged the swings of some Titans, eventually biting one's nape out, followed by dodging a charge from another Titan which barged straight into the tower, which ended up knocking Krista over the edge again.

Reiner was he closest to her and would've grabbed her if not for Mike stumbling into him, which forced Nick to reach over the ledge and catch her ankle as it went past the ledge, with him now halfway over the edge as well, she looked back up to see that it was Nick who had caught her and saved her again.

"Thank you Nick." She thanked him as he pulled her up quite easily.

"I said I wouldn't let go again." He reminded her, getting a small smile out of her in appreciation as she was set back on her feet.

"Tell me the truth." Reiner requested of her. "You had to have been in on all this." He accused. "Ymir's a Titan, how could you not know?"

"She never told me." Krista replied. "We were inseparable and yet... I had no idea." She said, watching Ymir attack a few Titans then going back out of reach of them. "I mean... how?"

"I'm not sure what to think." Reiner spoke up. "All this time she's been keeping it under wraps, and we never suspected a damn thing!"

"Yeah." Bertholdt agreed.

"Well... it's possible she didn't know." Connie offered up. "Eren was caught off guard. He had no clue until he transformed." He reminded them of the Titan hating member of the 104th, who had the power of two Titan's within him, though everyone else thought he only had one. "Then again, Ymir did seem to have a plan."

"Wait a minute." Krista stopped Connie there. "Are you trying to say that Ymir is a threat?"

"Maybe." Connie replied. "It's a hell of a power to hide, how she'll use it is anyone's guess."

"For all we know she could've been on their side all along." Bertholt spoke up.

"That's ridiculous." Nick snorted. "Who in their right mind would side with mindless Titan's Bertholdt." Nick said as he glared at him. "How can you side with something that tries to eat you, even when you're one of them."

Krista gasped as Ymir's leg got caught, not noticing the staredown between Nick and a nervous Bertholdt. Ymir was dragged down and tried to get away by biting the arm of the Titan that grabbed her and hit the other one and jumped up, only to have her legs grabbed again by another Titan, forcing her to use the stones of the tower to hold herself up. Her other leg was grabbed so she couldn't shake them as the stones continued to come loose, but right before they did, she let go, shocking everyone who was watching her.

"Woah! What is she doing?" Connie asked, as shocked as everyone else. "Oh come on, you're kidding right? She's worried about the tower falling down?"

"Exactly." Krista confirmed for him. "She didn't have to stay, she could've chosen to escape. Nothing's keeping her here, and still, she's fighting. It's us!" She realised as she watched Ymir struggle against all the Titans. "She's risking her life for us!" She watched Ymir get her hair grabbed by another Titan.

"Who are you?" Krista quietly asked. "Why are you doing this? Why?" She then stood up on the ledge of the tower to shout at Ymir. "Don't you die on me!" She yelled down to her. "Not in a hobbel like this, damn you!"

"Hey, get down from there!" Nick yelled as he grabbed onto her legs to stop her from falling. "I don't have enough gas to save you if you fall again." He reminded her.

"You wanna be the hero all of a sudden?!" She yelled, getting Ymir's attention as she was caught between multiple Titan's. Krista then shoved her hand onto Nick's face, putting him in some pain as it was his broken nose she was shoving against as he tried to keep her in place. "Hoping to go out in a blaze of glory?! Don't make me laugh! Too late to think about heaven now! You're a selfish bitch and you know it!"

"You'll die protecting this stupid tower!" She shouted. "Tear it to pieces! Just be yourself!" She screamed.

"You're insane!" Nick yelled. "That's going to get us all killed!"

Ymir on the other hand seemed to think it was a great idea, breaking free of the Titan's grip and the proceeded to rip the tower apart, throwing the stone blocks at the Titans to keep them at bay, with the tower eventually beginning to fall over with all the missing stone near the bottom.

"Yeah! Atta' girl!" Krista yelled, throwing her arms in the air, with Nick as the only thing preventing her from falling as he refused to let go of her.

 **"Wanna' lift?"** Ymir asked in her Titan form as she appeared at the top of the tower. **"Grab on tight."** She ordered them as they all grabbed on, with Mike and Nanaba holding the unconscious Gelgar so that he wouldn't die from the fall.

"Krista!" Nick yelled as Ymir started riding the tower down with everyone holding on for dear life. "If we make it out of here alive, I'm going to confine you to flat land for the rest of your life!" He yelled as the tower hit the ground, crushing all the Titan's that were standing beneath it.

Once they were all on the floor and thought they were safe, a few Titan's got right back up from underneath the rubble, getting the attention of everyone there.

"They're still not dead?" Krista asked.

"Hey ugly!" Connie called out. "You've got a job to finish!" He yelled as she ran towards the few Titan's left to kill them.

As she killed the first one, another one popped up and grabbed her by the head, smashing her against a large stone in the process.

"Ymir!" Krista yelled, worried for her friend.

Just then, more and more Titan's surfaced from the rubble and began to make their way towards Ymir.

"That's not good." Connie pointed out, but right then the Titans pounced on Ymir and began eating away at her Titan form, much to everyone's horror. "They're eating her." Connie said, horrified at the scene before him.

"No... no please." Krista begged, then she slid down the rock and started to run towards Ymir.

"Krista wait!" Connie urged her to stop but she didn't listen.

"For fucks sake, she's more suicidal that Eren." Nick muttered, quickly going after her to stop her from getting eaten, he needed her after all.

"Ymir! Don't do this to me!" She yelled, almost tripping as she ran but quickly recovered. "Damnit! We had a deal, remember?! Hold on! I still haven't told you my name! I promised you!"

Tears were forming in the corners of her eyes now, she wouldn't be able to tell her that her real name was Historia at this rate now, and to make things worse, a Titan poked it's head around the corner right infront of her, causing her to stop.

As it reached for her, she was yanked back and replaced by somebody else who was about to be grabbed instead of her, but the sounds of ODM gear and flesh being sliced caused the Titan to fall dead before it coukd grab the person who pulled her back.

She then saw Mikasa perched up on a rock, with her blades covered in Titan blood, glaring at whoever it was that had saved her.

"Nick, Krista, all of you get back." She said, confirming for Krista that Nick had put his life on the line for her once again. "Let us take care of this."

"Ah shit." Krista heard Nick mutter to himself as she noticed a fading bruise on Mikasa's left cheek.

 **A/N- There we go, another chapter down, and much faster than the last! Krista thinks she's got Nick figured out, but does she? But now Mike and three of his squad are (currently) alive, I have plans for them. Poor Nick and his nose, people seem to just target that, they keep trying to destroy the eye candy! But now Mikasa has arrived with the rest of the Scouts, and a very angry Eren. But if you didn't read the note at the top, how about you check out my new book! Big Brother Knows Best, I've worked hard on it and would appreciate if you gave it a read, even if you don't like it that's fine. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!**


	31. Update

**A/N- I know you're not supposed to use chapters as updates, but I'd rather do this now than write a whole new chapter and put this at the end. I've been thinking for a while about rewriting this story from the beginning, and after Cell's comment on the lastest chapter about characters being OOC, I looked back and kinda agree with them. I've pretty much decided on a rewrite now, but I don't know whether to finish off season 2 first, but it would be kinda pointless given the rewrite would be happening anyway. What I'm thinking is, that since this is my first story, I'll leave it up so that you can compare it with the rewrite and see what changes I made, because let's be honest, there was basically no character development in this story, at least at the start, but it was my first time writing, and everything can be improved when you look back at it, that's what Isayama is doing with the Anime, using it to improve aspects from the manga he thought could be improved. But I want some feedback from you guys, whether or not you think it would be better, because I think my writing has improved a lot since I started, but anyway, I hope you leave some feedback, even as a guest it helps a lot!**


	32. Another Update

**A/N- Sorry for another update, but I felt like I should tell you guys that the new and improved (hopefully) first chapter is currently being drafted, it'll be a lot longer in comparison to the first chapter of this one, but what can I do? Fingers crossed you guys will enjoy it.**

 **In response to the feedback, I agree that he is OP, I wanted that, but I definitely made him a bit too OP, which is my bad of course, I'll tone it down a little and include some flaws for him to deal with, if I were to make him an anti-hero, it wouldn't be in the mass murderer Uncle Kenny sense, it would be more like bending rules to get what he wants, or straight up ignoring them because he knows that any charges brought up against him wouldn't last at all.**

 **Frieda was meant to be his loveable sidekick in a sense, always with him amd giving him info or advice, but no one else could see her, she'll definitely be there again, but it'll mostly be for talking with him when he needs something, or even when he needs her help, but doesn't ask for it, and maybe a bit of teasing from her part now and again.**

 **Onto Annie, I was originally going to have her as the pairing, but with the mindset I wanted Nick to have, I just couldn't see a realistic way to make it work between them, so I just ignored it and didn't fix it, that's my bad.**

 **Onto Eren and his own flaws, I wanted to make him jealous of Nick, since Eren had trained his ass off to get where he is and then Nick just comes out of nowhere and is up there with Mikasa, possibly better, but at least Eren knew Mikasa was good enough to be top of the class. I also wanted Eren to be angry with him for basically lying about his ODM skills for three years and them act like it didn't matter at all, but that's my fault as I didn't include any interaction between them.**

 **As for bending the story just to fit the cannon, I can only apologise if it didn't seem to flow properly, but I was new to writing and didn't have the confidence to drift too far away from what happened in the cannon events aside from a few deaths being prevented, or something small or miniscule being changed, but that should change in the rewrite now that I'm more confident in my abilities.**

 **As for the comment about the harem, I can see why the story could be seen as a harem, but in truth, it was never supposed to be a harem, it was just meant to be that his options weren't just limited to one specific girl, it was more like, there's the option for most of them, except for Mikasa and probably Annie and Ymir were a no as well. As the story went on, the options were supposed to dwindle until there was only one option for him to sensibly choose. Anyway, that'll be all until the rewrite is posted, so until then!**

 **BTW, if you enjoy cannon changes, OC Ackerman's and/or Frieda Reiss, be sure to check out the other story that I updated yesterday!**


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